


(A Change) Would Do You Good

by GeekLover



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Banter, Community: paperlegends, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Kiss, Fish out of Water, M/M, Paperlegends 2013
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-05
Updated: 2013-09-05
Packaged: 2017-12-25 18:17:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 44,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/956211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeekLover/pseuds/GeekLover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur is a pampered prince who has reached the point where he is tired of his father making every decision for him, including who to marry. When he is betrothed to the horrible Vivian he manages to convince his father to allow him to set off away from Camelot to "sow his royal oats." </p><p>His sister Morgana on the other hand decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to actually find himself another bride.</p><p>So along with his best friend and "bodyguard" Gwaine he heads to the small town of Ealdor. He's skeptical about finding true love here.  But when he's robbed he meets an unlikely savior that could turn out to be exactly the person he was looking for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	(A Change) Would Do You Good

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to my artist frances_veritas. She created really amazing artwork, even though she didn't have a lot to work with and she had to put up with periods of radio silence from me. Her great art can be found here: http://frances-veritas.livejournal.com/441306.html Please leave her lots of love there.
> 
> Thanks to my betas queasy_mouse for looking over the beginning of this story for me and eeshbelle for doing a last minute beta which was tremendously helpful.
> 
> Big thanks also to sschapstickk and misswitch89 for bouncing over ideas with me.
> 
> And finally thank to the_muppet for doing a great job of organizing this one last time.
> 
> Story a take off from the great 80's movie "Coming to America."

This had to be a dream, Arthur was sure of it. His wedding day was finally here and he actually felt at peace, joyous even. He heard the back doors of the throne room open up, but his gaze remained focused on the front of the room. His father, King Uther Pendragon, actually beamed at him. To his left, Arthur’s sister Morgana was grinning and looked very satisfied. That had to be a good sign.

The processional music ended and Arthur leisurely turned to face his bride. He practically fell over when instead of being greeted with a pretty girl in a fluffy pink dress, a man stood next to him. A stunning and handsome man with the most radiant smile he’d ever seen and sharp cheekbones. As Arthur looked into the man’s gorgeous blue eyes he couldn’t help returning the smile. He stepped closer to his groom and leaned over to kiss the man.

A loud blaring sound interrupted him and he fell face forward…onto the ground.

“Sire!”

He heard a familiar voice in the background and a pair of feet came rushing towards him. He was helped off the ground by a petite man. He turned around and grimaced at his manservant, George.

“I’m so sorry, sire.” George started to brush off Arthur’s sleep hose.

“I think I’m alright.” Arthur pushed George’s wandering hands away.

“This was not the plan at all.”

Arthur ran a hand through his hair and sat back down on his massive bed. “It’s good to know the plan wasn’t to send me to an early grave.” He looked around the room and saw several different men standing to attention. They were each holding trumpets in their hands. He looked back at George, raising an eyebrow. “Trumpets?”

“The king requested a special morning greeting today: after all, it is a very momentous occasion.” George said standing straighter and clasping his hands in front of him.

“My birthday.” Arthur sounded incredibly bored. He punctuated the sentence with a yawn.

“Your 21st birthday.” George corrected.

“Right.” Arthur flopped backwards onto the bed. “But…trumpets? Why couldn’t it be something quieter, perhaps a violin?”

“The King thought trumpets better suited the occasion. They're far more joyous, majestic, and-

"Frightening first thing in the morning?" Arthur interrupted. He threw his red silk sheets over his head. “I’m going back to bed.”

George travelled to the bed and hovered over Arthur. "Sire." He sighed. "It is very important that we keep to your schedule today. You have a very busy day ahead and I'd prefer not to start the day off by having to implement use of the bucket."

Arthur groaned. There was many a morning in which his refusal to drag himself out of bed resulted in him being doused with freezing water, a practice not only approved of but suggested by his father.

Arthur slowly slid the sheet down his face and glared at George. He sluggishly stuck one leg after the other over the edge of the bed and heaved himself forward.

George clapped his hands together. "Splendid." He picked up Arthur's red and yellow silk robe and slid it on to the disgruntled Prince.

"I don't suppose I'll be allowed to bathe myself today?" Arthur asked.

George laughed, one of the few times Arthur had seen him do so. It was vaguely unsettling. "Very amusing, Your Highness. It's good to see your mood is improving."

Arthur rolled his eyes. He was ushered over to the corner of his room where the wooden bathtub was waiting.

“Aren’t you excited?” George asked as he began to undress Arthur.

“What?” A distracted Arthur asked.

“I asked if you’re excited? Today is not only your twenty-first birthday but you get to meet your future bride.”

Arthur shrugged. “It’s hard to be excited about marrying someone you’ve never even met.”

It was no secret that Arthur Pendragon could be a bit spoiled. He was the heir to the throne of Camelot and with that position came many privileges. Arthur couldn’t help it if things were just handed to him. And for the most part he didn’t complain about it. He enjoyed wearing the finest clothes and having people to clean up after him and be at his beck and call.

Over the last few years, though, he’d begun to long for changes. He was bored of everything being the same day after day. He was tired of never getting to make one decision for himself. He wasn’t even allowed to pick out his own clothes. Now one of the most important decisions of his life had also been taken away from him. He was expected to marry someone he had never even met and there wasn’t anything he could do about it.

 

~*~

 

After George had bathed and dressed him, they walked through the castle as preparations were being made for Arthur’s birthday celebration. Servants were dashing about carrying decorations for the banquet hall. When they spotted Arthur they bowed and wished him a Happy Birthday. There were some younger female maids at whom Arthur flashed his most charming smile: they ran away faster, their giggles echoing through the halls. Another perk of being the prince was that most of the women in town fawned over Arthur and thought his every word and idea were golden. If his future bride weren’t already hand-picked for him, he could have any woman he wanted in Camelot though he knew in his heart of hearts that no woman would truly make him happy.

Arthur pushed those thoughts from his mind as he entered the banquet hall to spy on what was being prepared. Sunlight streamed through the windows making every red and yellow fabric strewn throughout the room richer and even brighter. More people were packed in the room than was usual for that time of day; most of them were the performers Uther had hired for the evening, many men and women with their faces in extremely pale white make-up and ridiculous wigs. Some were practicing their skills. One man flipped a tiny woman with wild blonde hair, who was perched on his shoulders, into his arms. There were others juggling various items. Some were even practicing with fire. There was a big multi-colored wooden circle in the back.

The kitchen staff still bustled in and out, maneuvering around the chaos as best they could, carrying various trays, plates, pots, cups and other assorted items. None of them were particularly happy when the jugglers kept taking candles, dishes, and other things and used them for practice.

Everything was far too grandiose for Arthur’s liking.

“This seems very festive, doesn’t it Sire?” George asked, trying for a cheerful tone that sounded unnatural coming from him, he was usually far too formal and repressed for Arthur’s liking.

Arthur shrugged. “It’s all right.”

“All right? The King was sure this something that you would find entertaining. He knows how much you ordinarily hate the more formal feasts.”

Arthur smiled briefly. He was grateful that his father had at least somewhat given his feelings some consideration. “I appreciate my father’s attempt at levity, but I haven’t been excited about the circus since I was seven.”

George pointed to a man in the far corner, juggling several wooden sticks. “Doesn’t that entertain you?”

“It’s a man throwing wooden sticks in the air. I’ll try and contain my excitement,” Arthur drawled, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Just then, they heard a loud roar from outside. Arthur rushed over as fast as he could, through the crowd of pale-faced performers, to the window. His eyes bulged when he looked down and saw a wagon carrying some more entertainers for the evening. But it wasn’t the performers that garnered his attention. No, his eyes were drawn to the back where a lion was being carried in a large crate.

He turned to George slowly. “A lion?”

George nodded simply. “As I understand, it is quite customary for such large animals to be used by these performers.”

Arthur rolled his eyes. This could end very badly. On the other hand, Arthur had the morbid thought that if the lion escaped he might actually be able to get some decent hunting accomplished.

~*~

Arthur headed to the throne room where his father was meeting with his council members. He walked in just as Uther was ending the meeting.

Uther smiled at Arthur when he spotted him. “Arthur, you’re just in time. We were just finishing up.”

Arthur walked to the front of the room.

Uther clapped him on the shoulder. “Happy Birthday, son.”

Arthur smiled. “Thank you, father.” He didn’t expect a hug from Uther. His father wasn’t demonstrably affectionate even in private.

Arthur spent the next few minutes shaking the hands of the council members, each of whom wished him a happy birthday. When everyone else was finally gone, Arthur turned to his father, who had once again taken his seat at the head of the table and was going over papers. “Lord Finley and a few other council members looked a bit displeased. Did something troubling happen?”

“No. But some of the council is concerned with the number of sorcerers that are in the cells. Even with protection and security, they worry about what damage those things can cause if they aren’t dealt with swiftly. I do share their concerns, but I promised you that we wouldn’t have any executions during your birthday and with your upcoming wedding.”

Arthur bowed slightly. “Thank you, father. I can assure you no one else will give me a greater gift.” _Or weirder_ , he added to himself silently.

Uther barely looked up from his papers as he nodded absently. “I still don’t understand why this is so important to you. You’ve always understood my position on magic and how disgusting and dangerous those who practice magic are.”

Arthur concealed an eye roll. He had already gone over this with his father when he had made his request. Anyone who lived in Camelot was more than clear on Uther’s position on magic and anything he felt was associated with it. Uther had spent years attempting to eradicate every sorcerer or those who would help them from Camelot. He had mostly been successful, although there were many who slipped through the cracks. Uther claimed Camelot had flourished since he had banned magic.

When Arthur was nine and finally asked his father for the first time why he hated magic so much, Uther told him that sorcerers were responsible for his mother’s death. He never elaborated more than that, nor did he spend much time talking about Ygraine. Arthur respected and idolized his father so he took him at his word. But the executions had never sat well with him. His father usually insisted he attend them, but he usually made some excuse of why he couldn’t be there.

“And these creatures are becoming particularly brazen as of late. I’ve talked to the council about becoming more vigilant when it comes to sorcery,” Uther continued.

Arthur’s eyes widened a bit. “How could you possibly get any more vigilant? I don’t think you can get harsher than punishing them with death. Unless you plan on bringing them back to life and killing them again.”

“Arthur!” Uther shot him a brief look of warning.

Arthur pressed his lips together in a tight line. He had many arguments for why executions weren’t necessary, but he knew his father wouldn’t be receptive. He would just be happy with the respite for a few days. He knew that when he was King he would change things. He sighed. “I don’t know about anyone else, but executions don’t put me in a very festive mood. I’m certain Lady Vivian would agree. I don’t think a parade of coffins would be the best way to greet my future bride.”

Uther looked up from his papers and stood up. “You’re right. Lady Vivian and her father will be arriving tonight and I don’t want this happy occasion to be marred by any unpleasant business.” Uther walked over to Arthur and gave him a nod of approval. “I’m pleased that you’re already thinking of your bride’s feelings and happiness.”

“I always want our guests to feel welcome here. It’s nothing special.” Arthur moved over by the window and stared down at the people bustling on the street and going about their daily lives. He’d never felt particularly envious of any of them - why would he- until now. No matter how much they may struggle in their lives they had something Arthur didn’t - freedom.

Uther joined him at the window and watched as some of the circus troupe performed for the citizens of town. There were many cheers at their acrobatics. “Are you enjoying the performance?”

Arthur debated telling his father his true feelings but decided that he didn’t want to be negative after the effort his father had taken to do something he thought Arthur would enjoy. “It’s quite an amazing spectacle. I don’t know if you needed to go to so much trouble.”

Uther turned Arthur to face him. “Of course I did. This is a highly momentous occasion. You’re twenty-one and you’re about to be married. You truly are becoming a man, Arthur. That needs to be celebrated.”

“I don’t particularly feel like a man, father. I think most men are allowed to choose their own clothes.”

“I’m not sure what your point is, Arthur.”

Arthur covered his face with his hands and took a deep breath. He exhaled and looked at his father. “My point is that I’m twenty-one years old and I don’t think I’ve ever been allowed to make any decisions for myself. Whether that means deciding what I want to wear, what I want to eat, or who I want to spend the rest of my life with.”

Uther surprised Arthur by nodding and smiling. “I see what this is truly about. You’re nervous about meeting Lady Vivian.”

“No...well perhaps a little. But that’s part of the problem. I shouldn’t be meeting someone I’m about to marry two days before said marriage. I don’t want my bride to be picked for me.” Arthur stalked away from his father and sat down heavily at the table.

Uther slowly sat down next to him. “Arthur, I understand your concerns. You’re not the first man in Camelot to have these concerns. But I assure you that this is quite a privilege - and it’s tradition. I can’t change it.”

Arthur looked at his father and decided to truly be honest for once. He hoped that if his father truly saw how much this distressed him, he might change his mind. “Father, what if we meet, spend two minutes with each other, and can’t stand one another? I don’t want to live the rest of my life never having found someone to love.”

“Arthur, that is a nice sentiment but I did not raise you to be so naive. Trust me when I say that love is overrated.” Uther said in a severe tone.

Arthur’s eyes bulged. He couldn’t believe what his father had said. It wasn’t necessarily a surprise that Uther wasn’t compassionate to his son’s plight, but to denigrate love in such a way truly astounded him. “How could you say that? If love is overrated does that mean you didn’t love my mother at all?”

Arthur regretted his words instantly. Uther’s eyes flashed darkly and Arthur knew that if he weren’t the crown prince he would have found himself horse whipped for his comment. “I will let that comment pass since it is your birthday, but I warn you Arthur to never make another remark like that again or the consequences will be most severe. Is that understood?”

Arthur nodded his head shakily. “Yes, Father.”

“You will be King one day, Arthur. It’s time for you to learn that sometimes you have to do what’s for the good of the kingdom, no matter how much you don’t like it. Lady Vivian is not only a lovely young woman, but more importantly her father King Olaf is a friend and an ally. The joining of our two families will allow Camelot to flourish. You may not like it Arthur, but this is your duty.”

Arthur wanted to scream at Uther that his whole life had been about duty. He’d played the dutiful son his whole life and did not need to be lectured about duty. But he didn’t, not that his father gave him an opportunity to.

“Now, if you don’t mind, Arthur I have work to do.” Uther curtly nodded to the door.

Arthur clenched his hands at his sides as he stood up slowly. He let out a quiet cough before speaking. “I have to get to training.” He walked away from the table with his head bowed. As he got to the door, he turned back to his father. “I’m sorry that I upset you, father. You have to know that the happiness and well-being of everyone in Camelot is the most important thing in the world to me. If you say that this marriage is the best thing for Camelot then...I trust you.” His father didn’t look up and after a few seconds, Arthur left.

 

~*~

Perhaps he was being a masochist, but after the stressful conversation Arthur sought out his sister, Morgana. She would undoubtedly tease him mercilessly about his upcoming wedding and Arthur was sure he wasn’t in the mood for that but, and he would never admit this to Morgana’s face, whenever he felt upset Morgana was the only one who made him feel better and put things in perspective.

Arthur knocked.

“Enter.”

At the small desk in her room, Morgana was seated in front of her mirror. She seemed to be playing with her hair. She glanced at Arthur through the mirror. “Have you been sucking on a lemon?”

Arthur wrinkled his nose. “What?”

Morgana let her silky black hair fall to her shoulders. “Your face looks so pinched and you look annoyed.” A look of realization came over Morgana’s face. She twisted around to face Arthur. “Let me guess: you’ve just been with Uther?” She turned back to her mirror. “How is our tyrant of a father?”

Arthur put his face in his hands. He scrubbed his hands across his face roughly before he looked up at Morgana again. “Please don’t start.”

As she picked up her hairbrush Morgana rolled her eyes. “Come on, Arthur you know it’s true. He’s an antiquated tyrant. The man is literally living in the Dark Ages.”

“Morgana, you know that-” Arthur cut himself off and sighed disgustedly. “You know what, I’m really not in the mood to try and defend father to you. It’d be a wasted effort.”

Morgana put down her hairbrush and turned to face Arthur. “You’re not going to defend the great and wonderful Uther Pendragon? What exactly happened between you two?”

“Nothing!” Arthur shouted. He took a deep breath and sat down heavily on Morgana’s bed. He continued in a quieter voice. “Nothing. We just talked a bit about the wedding and Lady Vivian’s arrival.”

Morgana snorted and turned back to her mirror. “The great Lady Vivian. I cannot believe that Uther can’t do any better than her.”

Arthur narrowed his eyes at her. She’d joked before about Vivian. Morgana had met her once when they were younger and didn’t have great things to say about her, but Arthur had always thought his sister was merely annoyed by her rival for the honour of the court. But when she spoke about Vivian right now he couldn’t mistake the absolute disgust that dripped from her voice. "You know, it's possible that she has changed since she was twelve," he said hopefully.

"Not from what I've heard."

More than a little alarmed now, Arthur sat up straighter. “Is there something in particular I should know about her?”

She swept her hair up and picked up a couple of bobby pins to hold it in place. “She’s a princess. I think that’s all you need to know about her.”

“You’re a princess!” Arthur spat.

“I’m different.”

“That’s for sure.”

Morgana stuck her tongue out at Arthur. “I have a brain in my head and can think for myself and I say what’s on my mind.”

“Perhaps a little too much.” Arthur smirked. “You’re the only princess that I know who has been thrown in the stocks by their own father.”

Morgana twisted around and glared at Arthur. “I’m proud of that. Sometimes you have to do what is right and damn the consequences.”

That wasn’t the first time he’d heard that from his sister but it had finally begun to resonate. Arthur bit his lip as he looked down at the floor.

Morgana took down her hair and shook it loose.

“Why do you keep messing about with your hair?” Arthur grumbled.

“I’m trying to figure out what to do with my hair for your wedding.”

“If you think this marriage is such a mistake, why do you even care?”

“I still want to look my best, Arthur. I’m not a caveman like you.” Morgana grinned. She got up and picked up a box on the end table by her bed. She walked over to Arthur. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten your birthday.” Morgana handed the box to Arthur.

It was a simple wooden box, a bit heavy, and Arthur weighed it in his hands. “Thanks for the care you’ve taken with the presentation.” Arthur said with sarcasm.

Morgana hit him on the arm and sat down next to him. “Just open it.”

Arthur acquiesced and took the top off the box. He furrowed his brow as he looked at the item inside. He turned to Morgana. “What the hell is this?”

“That’s a lovely thank you.” Morgana scoffed at him.

“I’m sorry. Perhaps I would thank you if I knew what it was.” He picked the small object out of the box. It was a small and rectangular with numbered buttons all over. He turned it over and the back was shiny and black.

Morgana took it out of his hand. “It’s a mobile phone. It’s something that people who aren’t Amish or living under the reign of a paranoid King use to communicate.”

Arthur’s eyes popped. “Morgana, you know how father feels about these things. How the hell did you even get this in Camelot?”

There was some truth to what Morgana said about their father and his paranoia. Uther had never been fond of technology. He preferred the simplicity of how things were back in earlier times. After Arthur’s mother died and he banned all magic, he also banned any form of technology from Camelot. He claimed technology was too closely associated with magic.

Arthur had grown up not knowing any other way to live. That was of course until an ever rebellious Morgana showed a nine year old Arthur a picture of a television and Arthur became transfixed by it. With Morgana’s help he had gotten a brief, crash course on the modern world. She showed him books that his father had banned, but also much more. Arthur had been exposed to music in Camelot, with singers doing special performances at balls and other fancy occasions. But those had usually been classically trained singers, opera. It wasn’t like the fast paced, up-tempo music Morgana played for him. He found it wondrous and if it really were magic, he hadn’t cared.

His discovery of everything his father had kept from him caused him to finally ask Uther some questions, including asking about his mother. After Uther’s explanation of her death, Arthur just accepted the way things were in Camelot. He couldn’t really miss something had never been a part of his life. Morgana wasn’t so easily convinced.

“You know, I have connections.” Morgana put the phone in Arthur’s hands. “Just because our father doesn’t want to move into the 21st Century, doesn’t mean we can’t.”

“Of course it does.” Arthur insisted. “Father is our King. If he doesn’t want these kinds of things here, there’s nothing we can do. Even if I wanted to take this, who would I call? This is pointless to me.”

Morgana sighed. “Arthur, I wish you would break free from our father. I’m not saying that you can’t love and respect the man, even if I don’t.”

Arthur looked up at her sharply. “Morgana, I know that no matter what you say about Father, you do love him.”

Morgana twisted her mouth and looked like she wanted to protest but finally her shoulders slumped and she blew out a breath. “Yes, I do love him. He makes it nearly impossible sometimes, but I do. But I don’t respect him.” She reached out and took Arthur’s hand. “Arthur, you’re not the same man that he is and that is a good thing. I know that you can be a good King, but you have to learn how to follow your own heart and make your own decisions instead of blindly following him all of the time.”

“I really wish that everyone would stop telling me that I don’t have what it takes to be King.” Arthur stood up and began to pace.

“That’s not what I’m saying, Arthur.”

Arthur whirled around to face her. “No, you’re right. Of course I should listen to you. You have years of experience ruling a kingdom, making sure it remains prosperous and that its citizens are well taken care of.” Arthur put his hand to his chin and pretended to think it over. “Oh, wait that would be Father.” He turned and began to stalk toward the door. “I have to go, I’m late for training.”

“Wait.” Morgana ran after him. She grabbed Arthur’s arm. “Despite your horrible attempt to mock me, I still am going to give you your present.” Morgana walked over to the armoire on the other side of the room. She kneeled down and took something from the bottom.

When she stepped in front of Arthur she handed him another box, bigger than the last one and the design was more ornate. “What’s this?” He asked suspiciously as he took it from her.

“Your _real_ present. I still want you to keep the phone but I had a feeling you wouldn’t like it. But I know you will like this one.”

Arthur flipped the lid over and gasped when he saw what was inside. He looked over at Morgana before slowly walking forward and slowly sat down at the small table in the middle of the room, never taking his eyes away from what was inside. He reached down and picked up a beautifully framed picture of him when he was two years old. He had a huge smile on his face, his head flung back as he was held in the air by his mother.

“I wanted to get you a really great present this year and I did some research online and I was able to find a couple of pictures of Ygraine from before ‘the purge.’”

Arthur still had his eyes on the picture when he asked, “Online?”

Morgana chuckled. “It’s something you do on the computer.”

“The computer.” Arthur said slowly. “That’s like the television or the microwave, or one of those things, right?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

Arthur finally turned his gaze to her. “Did you find anything else about her?”

“Not very much. I know that she grew up in this small town called Ealdor. It’s in England. Do you know where that is?”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “I have looked at a globe before. I’m not an idiot.”

“Since it’s your birthday I’m going to let that pass without comment.”

“Thank you.” Arthur’s attention returned to the picture. He couldn’t help the smile that formed on his face. The few times people did make mention of his mother, they always told him that he looked so much like her and he could really see that. The same blonde hair, the same deep blue eyes, even the shapes of their faces was alike.

The starkness of the black and white photo didn’t mask the utter joy and happiness of both figures. Ygraine looked radiant as she gazed adoringly up at her son. It was very easy for Arthur to tell himself that his mother loved him. After all she was a mother: she had to. But never having grown up with her and to have never known his mother’s love had left an enormous void in Arthur’s life. But to see the evidence of it clearly in her eyes in the photograph brought Arthur to tears.

Morgana squeezed his hand. “I’m glad you like it.”

Arthur sniffed. “You really can be a good sister.” Morgana smiled broadly. “Can’t you be like this all the time?”

Morgana shrugged. “Perhaps I could be, but I think you’d miss mocking me far too much.”

“That is true.”

They both chuckled. They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Morgana stood up. “I think I know who that is.” She sauntered over to the door and ran her hands quickly through before she opened the door. “Sir Gwaine.”

The man with the cocky smile and the gorgeous, wavy brown locks eyes roamed leisurely over Morgana’s body. His smile widened impossibly. “The Lady Morgana you are a vision in green. May I be so bold as to make a sartorial suggestion that you wear nothing but green from now on? Or nothing at all.” His eyebrows waggled suggestively.

Morgana grinned. “Oh, Gwaine, if you were ever subtle I wouldn’t recognize you.”

Gwaine squeezed past her into the room. “I mean it, Morgana. You look absolutely stunning, good enough to-”

“Gwaine?” Arthur said as he walked closer to where the two stood. “What are you doing here?”

Gwaine’s eyes bulged slightly as he twisted to face Arthur. “I could ask you the same thing, Arthur. I mean, Sire. I could ask you the same thing, Sire.” At Arthur’s narrowed eyes Gwaine backtracked. “But I won’t because that would be disrespectful.”

Arthur crossed his arms over his chest. “And you would never be that, would you?”

“Of course not, Princess.” Gwaine winked.

Arthur growled slightly while Morgana laughed. If Gwaine weren’t such an excellent fighter, and quite fun (though Arthur was loathe to admit that last part), he didn’t know if he’d be able to put up with him. It also helped cement their friendship that their fathers were childhood friends.

“I ask again Gwaine, what are you doing here?”

Morgana stepped between the two of them. “Oh, you didn’t know Arthur? Gwaine comes by every morning to shamelessly flirt with me.”

Arthur strode over to Gwaine. “What are you thinking?”

“Aww, it’s sweet you’re being protective.” Morgana crowed.

“I wouldn’t call it sweet. But I do think Gwaine should be careful.”

Morgana’s eyebrows shot up. “Gwaine? You’re worried about Gwaine?”

“Of course. Morgana you’d eat him alive.”

“I’d risk it.” Gwaine said with a smile.

“And are you forgetting our father, the King of Camelot. If you ever saw you as much as glance in Morgana’s direction he’d have your head on the chopping block.”

Gwaine’s bravado faltered a bit. “I didn’t think about that.”

“Clearly not. We need to go. We have some training to do.” As Gwaine headed for the door, Arthur moved to Morgana.

“Thank you so much for the brotherly concern.” Morgana said a bit petulantly.

Arthur smirked a little before it turned into a genuine smile. “Thank you,” he held up the box containing his mother’s picture, “for this.”

The smile Morgana gave him in return was big enough to light up the room. “You’re welcome.”

Arthur gave Morgana a quick peck on the cheek and flew before his cheeks turned red.

~*~

Arthur was always aggressive in training, but today he was relentless. Gwaine had amazing skills with the sword and he parried against the flurry of Arthur’s attacks. But Arthur didn’t give up and soon had Gwaine backed up against a wall, Gwaine’s sword the only thing that stood between the prince’s sword and his friend’s neck.

“Alright,” Gwaine gasped. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have flirted with your sister.”

Arthur blinked at him. “What?” Gwaine just glanced down at Arthur’s sword. “Oh.” Arthur backed off. He sighed. “I told you I’m not upset about you flirting with my sister. If you weren’t flirting with someone that would probably mean you were dead.”

Gwaine stood up straight. “If this isn’t about Morgana, why are you in such a foul mood?”

“Because I have to marry some woman I’ve never even met tomorrow.”

“Oh, that.”

“Yes, that,” Arthur practically snarled. He headed off to get changed and Gwaine followed.

“I don’t understand it, Arthur. From what I’ve heard Vivian is a gorgeous woman.”

“And?” Arthur waited for Gwaine continued and when he didn’t he sighed. “There are a lot of beautiful women in the world and in Camelot. You can’t marry someone just because they’re pretty.”

“Why not?” Gwaine shrugged. “That’s what I plan to do.”

“I’m sorry then my standards are a little higher than yours. I would actually like to be able to carry on a decent conversation with the person I marry.”

Gwaine laughed loudly. “Is this like the time you said that you didn’t want special treatment for being the prince?” His laughter started to die down but then he doubled over. His whole body shook. As he stood back up, he wiped at his eyes. “I’m sorry, that one still makes me laugh.”

“Shut it, Gwaine.”

Gwaine was finally able to compose himself. “You were actually serious?” He only received a glower in return. “Isn’t the main reason for you to acquire a wife for you to produce an heir? You don’t need conversation for that.” Gwaine grinned.

They arrived at the knights’ chambers and Arthur ripped his gloves off and threw them on a wooden bench. “Do you ever think about anything other than sex?”

“Yes. Drinking and fighting.” Gwaine struggled out of his hauberk. He quickly removed his gambeson and shirt. “God, I reek.” He found a bucket with water and a flannel and started to wipe across the back of his sweaty neck.

Arthur tried to look away but kept finding his gaze drawn back to Gwaine. He used the flannel now to wipe at his chest and Arthur watched as the wet hairs on his chest clung to his body. Arthur’s teeth scraped against his mouth slowly as he followed the path of a droplet of water that traveled to Gwaine’s navel.

If anyone caught the way he salivated over Gwaine he didn’t know how he would explain it. Nor how he would explain the urges that he’d experienced recently. Women were perfectly lovely and Arthur admired their beauty but they didn’t conjure the same feelings of lust that he had for other men. Arthur was sure that these feelings would pass...they had to.

Arthur turned away a split second before Gwaine twisted around. “Don’t you want to get undressed as well?”

Arthur cleared his throat. “Uh, no. I’ll wait until I get to my chambers and have George do it.”

Gwaine chuckled. “It must be nice, having a man to undress you at your beck and call.”

Arthur practically choked. He sputtered incoherently for a moment before he composed himself. “That-that-that is...quite true. Don’t have a dog and fetch the stick yourself.”

Gwaine nodded. “That makes some sense.”

“I-I should go then.” Arthur was still a bit flustered. “Lady Vivian and her father should be arriving shortly. My destiny awaits.”

Gwaine put down the flannel and walked over to Arthur. He clapped a hand against Arthur’s shoulder. “I know that you’re worried, but I truly believe it’s going to be alright.”

Arthur’s eyes briefly lowered to Gwaine’s chest before he resolutely returned them to the other man’s face. “Thanks.” He backed out of the room slowly as Gwaine gave him a strange look.

~*~

Uther, Arthur, and a few knights waited on the steps of Camelot as King Olaf and Lady Vivian’s carriage approached the front of the castle.

Arthur took in a few gulps of air. He felt his throat was slowly becoming constricted the closer the carriage came. He looked to his left and saw his father had on his perfect fake “greeting fellow royals” smile. To his right, Gwaine tried to give him a reassuring smile.

The carriage finally stopped in front of them. The driver came out and opened the door and a blonde man with a thick build and draped in fur, stepped out. King Olaf smiled as he walked towards them. Uther and Olaf greeted each other with a warm hug.

Olaf looked around. “I see things are just as they were the last time I was here.”

Uther smiled. “We’re doing fairly well here, no need to change what isn’t broken.”

Olaf didn’t say anything but simply nodded. He stepped back towards the carriage and opened the door. “May I present my daughter, the Lady Vivian.”

A thin young woman with long blonde hair stepped out daintily. She eyed her surroundings warily but when her eyes landed on Uther she smiled brightly. She bowed to Uther.

Uther took her hand and kissed it lightly. “You look just as lovely as your mother.”

“Thank you, milord.”

Uther turned to Arthur. When Arthur stayed where he was, Uther cleared his throat and glared at his son. Arthur’s eyes widened and he hurried forward. “My son, Prince Arthur.”

Arthur took her hand and kissed the back of it, like his father. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Vivian.”

“Likewise, Prince Arthur.”

She smiled at him, but Arthur was a bit unsettled by it. The smile didn’t reach her eyes and she seemed to be staring right through him. Perhaps he had just projected his feelings on to her. He hoped that was it.

~*~

“I hope you’ll be quite comfortable here.” Arthur said to Vivian as she looked around her chambers.

When she turned to him, she wrinkled her nose. “I suppose it’ll do...for now.”

“Most of our guests are quite happy here.”

Vivian picked up an apple. “I’m not most of your guests.”

Arthur sighed. “You’re right. You are going to be my...” He had to swallow before he could finish the sentence. “...Wife.”

“Would you have sex with me?” Vivian asked suddenly and with no change in the bored tone of her voice.

Arthur’s mouth dropped open. He blinked rapidly, not knowing at all what to say. “You mean now?”

Vivian laughed as if it were the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard. “Of course not now. But when we’re married. That is the whole point of this arrangement.”

Arthur chuckled, more out of nervousness than anything else. “I had a friend that said the same thing.”

Vivian perked up. “Who’s this friend? Is he gorgeous?”

Arthur opened and closed his mouth a few times. He had no idea what to say. He wasn’t used to being this flustered. “I don’t know.”

Vivian rolled her eyes. “I really, really am not looking forward to having to get pregnant and fat and have a shrieking little person ripped from my body.” She put the apple down.

“Hopefully you won’t have to worry about that for quite some time. Father is very healthy and I don’t think we’ll need a new heir any time soon.”

Vivian sighed dramatically. Arthur had a feeling this was her default form of communication. “I suppose that’s a good thing. I need something to distract me from the endless boredom here. I hope there are some decent looking men around here.”

Arthur bristled at that. “I don’t think you’re really giving Camelot a fair chance.”

“I know all I need to know about this barren, backwards wasteland. I can’t use my laptop or my iPhone or even my curling iron here. I’m giving up a lot to marry you and quite frankly I don’t really like you.”

“You just met me two bloody minutes ago!” Arthur fumed.

Vivian flung herself onto the bed. “I can just tell. And you’re not my type at all.”

Arthur stalked over to her. “If Camelot, and I, are so distasteful to you, perhaps I should just tell my father and yours that we won’t be going through with the ceremony. Trust me it would be a big relief to me as well.”

Vivian sprang up. “You will do no such thing. I may not like you, or Camelot, but there is one thing that I do like very much and that is the idea of being Queen. My father has told me this is my only chance so I will live with everything I can’t have for the moment. When I’m Queen things will change.” She flounced over to Arthur. “I will not allow you to ruin things because I hurt your precious feelings.”

Arthur desperately wished in this moment that he could incinerate Vivian with the heat of his glare, but unfortunately no matter how long her glowered at her she remained standing there with her smug expression.

Vivian smiled. “Don’t look so unhappy. Most couples can’t stand each other. Now if you don’t mind I’ve had a long trip and I’d like to get some rest.”

Arthur couldn’t believe it. He was being dismissed. No one had ever had the gall to treat him this way. He wanted to throw her out and put an end to this farce of a marriage before it ever began, but no matter how cruel and annoying Vivian was there was no way Uther would allow Arthur to back out now. He was stuck. He thought he’d been unhappy before, but the weight of what he would be facing for years to come crushed him. He’d never felt more hopeless in his entire life.

~*~

Arthur felt dizzy. He had an apple in his mouth and he was being spun on a giant wheel with a man about to throw a dagger at him. It was the most at ease he’d felt in days. Arthur had a fleeting thought that he might actually welcome it if the man missed and impaled him in the leg. It might get him out of the wedding the next day. But luck was not on his side and the dagger ended up in the dead center of the apple.

The feast to celebrate Arthur’s birthday and his upcoming wedding was well under way. Everyone, including Uther, was in good spirits, enjoying the food, drink, and especially the entertainment.

Arthur was picked off of the wheel by a rather large man and placed back on the ground. He removed the apple and took a bite as he bowed to the cheering crowd. Everyone else’s happiness rubbed off on him in that moment and he managed a genuine smile. The smile quickly faded when he looked to the table at the front with his father, King Olaf, and his future bride.

Arthur trudged over to the table and sat down heavily, in the middle of Uther and Vivian. Vivian glommed onto his arm. “Oh, Arthur that was incredibly brave. I was so worried.”

Vivian had been putting on a fine, and more than a little grating, performance as the most supportive and loving bride the world had ever seen. Uther was completely charmed by her. Arthur had to keep his hands glued to his sides to avoid the urge to wring her neck.

“Those are very kind words, Lady Vivian. One would think you actually cared.” Arthur laughed mirthlessly.

Vivian narrowed her eyes. She took one of Arthur’s hands. “Don’t be daft, Arthur. Of course I care.” She squeezed his hand painfully.

“Ow!” Arthur gasped.

Uther and Olaf’s eyes snapped towards them.

“Arthur, are you alright?” Uther asked.

Arthur opened his mouth to answer his father, but Vivian responded first. “He said he hurt himself in training today. Nothing too serious. He takes training so seriously. I don't think Camelot could ask for a better defender. You've done such a fine job raising him, milord."

Uther practically preened. It disturbed Arthur.

Morgana touched Vivian's arm. "Are you alright? Can you breathe?"

Vivian wrinkled her nose. "What are you blathering about?"

"I'm just concerned for you Vivian. You have your nose buried so far up my father's-

"Morgana!" Arthur interrupted. He tried to make his face into a mask of sternness, but felt like he failed miserably. He had to bite his cheek to keep his laughter inside.

Morgana could tell that Arthur's "defense" of Vivian was for show and she looked quite pleased with herself.

"It's funny you should mention noses, Morgana." Vivian leaned in closer towards Morgana. "It's a shame that Uther is so rigid because you could use a plastic surgeon to take care of that landmass you call a nose."

Arthur was grateful for his quick reflexes. He managed to stop Morgana's hand halfway to Vivian's head. He'd probably saved a significant chunk of Vivian's hair.

Morgana glared at him.

Everyone started to quiet down and Arthur turned and saw his father had stood up. He had goblet in hand and stared down at everyone. He didn't have to say a word to command everyone's attention.

"I am very pleased that everyone has been enjoying the festivities this evening. The spectacle and pageantry of tonight is a fitting tribute to what an enormously important day this is. Your crown prince, Arthur Pendragon is about to embark on an important new journey in his life as husband to the beautiful Lady Vivian."

Vivian couldn't let the moment pass and stood up and took a bow to many enthusiastic cheers.

Arthur gritted his teeth and saw Morgana roll her eyes.

Uther smiled and then turned to Arthur after Vivian sat down. Though his smile faded Arthur was surprised to see a faint glimmer of tears in his father's eyes. When he spoke again there was unmistakable pride in his voice. "I have every confidence that my son will tackle this new role with the same strength, grace, and nobility he has everything else in his young life. I wish you every happiness, Arthur."

The gears in Arthur's brain moved slowly as he tried to process his father's words. He had been sure he had been nothing but a disappointment to his father. A small part of Arthur considered that Uther could have been saying this for show. But when the fog lifted from his brain and he was able to look into his father's eyes, he believed Uther was sincere.

Uther beckoned to him and Arthur stood up. He moved so sluggishly he felt as if he were trying to break through a wall of mud. When he finally made it to his father, Uther smiled wider and wrapped him in a hug.

Arthur's arms were limp at his sides. He was still so surprised by his father's show of affection it took him a moment to respond in kind. He finally returned his father's hug fully. It was over far too briefly for Arthur.

Arthur looked up at Uther with a timid and awkward smile.

"I don't mean to interrupt such a truly touching moment..."

Vivian's voice was like a splash of blisteringly cold water. Arthur immediately stiffened and did his best to resist letting out a loud groan.

Uther shook his head. "You're more than welcome to speak, Lady Vivian."

Vivian smiled and as she turned to the assembled guests, tried to strike a regal pose. "I just wanted to say that I am honored to be joining such a loving and wonderful family. Arthur is a wonderful prince and I am quite sure he will be an equally wonderful husband. I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to be your princess and eventually your Queen. Camelot is a very special place and I hope you all come to love me as I love being here."

She finished and looked out at the crowd with big cow eyes and everyone clapped and cheered.

Arthur and Morgana shared a look. Morgana was full of rage. Arthur was a mix of things - mostly disbelief at Vivian's gall and everyone else's gullibility, and disgust and fear at being tied to this woman for life.

He couldn't stand having to look at her one more second. He left the table quickly and walked out of the room. When he stepped outside he felt as if he was finally able to breathe.

He watched the doors and knew that his father would probably storm out very soon. Uther didn't disappoint.

When he spotted Arthur he marched toward him, though he didn't look nearly as mad as Arthur thought he would be.

"Arthur, Vivian made quite a lovely speech. It was rude and inappropriate for you to leave."

Arthur held up his hand. "You're right, father and I am very sorry. I will apologize to Vivian and her father. It's just..." Arthur had no choice but to lie. "Lady Vivian is so perfect..." Arthur turned his head briefly and had to suck down the bile in his throat. His faced his father again, with hopefully his most sincere expression. "I'm not sure I'm prepared to handle her. Father, I'm not as worldly as Vivian. I've never stepped foot out of Camelot and I have barely any experience with other women. Can you at all understand my nerves?"

Uther didn't say anything for a moment. Arthur wasn't sure what he was thinking. Finally Uther nodded. He had an odd smile on his face. "I can understand your concerns and I have to apologize."

Arthur goggled at his father. He thought he might fall over. His father apologizing was unprecedented and Arthur wasn't sure what Uther planned to apologize for.

"How can I expect you to properly be a husband and King when I've kept you so sheltered?" He grasped Arthur's shoulder. "You're a man now and you deserve to explore the world and sow your royal oats."

"Sow my oats?"

"Gain some experience." Uther eyed him intensely.

Arthur knew his father tried to get some point across wordlessly and Arthur wasn't quite getting it. It unnerved him.

"You understand what I mean?"

Arthur nodded slowly.

"Explore other women and learn how to please your wife." Uther finished.

"Oh." Arthur said absently. The light bulb finally flashed- entirely too vividly. _Oh!_

"I did the same thing before I married your mother. It was quite eye-opening." Uther continued oblivious to Arthur's discomfort.

"Alright, Father I get the point. A little too much." Arthur mumbled.

"So it's settled."

"Yes." Arthur crossed his arms in front of his chest. His brow furrowed and he looked up at his father. "Just to be clear what exactly is settled?"

Uther sighed. "I'm going to give you the opportunity to travel anywhere in the world, within reason of course, for six weeks, to gain the experience you seek. Then after those six weeks you return to Camelot and marry Lady Vivian."

Arthur was torn. He was extremely grateful that his father had bent a little and was willing to give him this respite. Then again, after such freedom Arthur feared he would be even more miserable to come home and be shackled to Vivian.

But as usual, he couldn't exactly tell his father "no." He smiled at Uther. "Thank you, father."

Uther clapped his arm.

"What exactly do we tell, Lady Vivian?" Arthur asked.

Uther shrugged. "We simply tell her you have urgent business for Camelot that you must attend to. I'm sure she will understand having to postpone the wedding."

A slow grin spread on Arthur's face. "I'm sure you're right. If I've learned anything about Vivian today it’s how understanding she is."

~*~

Morgana flew into Arthur's chambers. "I really wish the feast had gone on a little longer. I was really hoping that lion might take a bite out of a certain princess. I was trying to listen in on Father talking to Vivian, but I couldn’t really hear much. Except for Vivian.” A grin a mile wide formed on her face. “I think I may have permanent hearing loss but it was truly worth it. I don't think I've ever heard someone shriek so loud. What did you do? There's no way Uther called it -." She paused when she saw Arthur packing. "You're packing!"

"Your observational skills stun me yet again." Arthur said. He meant it to be insulting, but he lacked the energy to give it true bite.

Morgana ignored his comment altogether. "Did you finally stand up to Uther?" Her eyes flashed hotly and she practically breathed fire. "Did that bastard throw you out?! He can't do that! If he thinks I’m just going to stand by and-"

"Morgana!" Arthur finally spit out, twisting around to face his hot-tempered sister. “Stop frothing at the mouth before you have a stroke. I have not been exiled. The wedding is still going to happen.” Arthur sighed. “But Father is going to allow me to take some time for myself before I have to commit to marriage.”

Morgana sat down on the bed and watched Arthur pack. She fiddled with one of his shirts. “How much time?”

“Six weeks. I can go wherever I want, within reason, so I can sow my royal oats.”

Morgana blinked up at him. “Are you serious?”

“Very much.” Arthur answered. He started to head for his armoire when Morgana grabbed his arm.

“Arthur, do you realize what this is?” She said. Her eyes searched Arthur’s.

“A potential waste of time?” Arthur looked down at his arm and wondered why Morgana gripped his arm so tightly. Her fingernails started to dig into his skin.

“No! This is a wonderful opportunity!” She hopped off the bed and finally let go of his arm.

Arthur rubbed at his arm. “An opportunity to do what? This is just a brief reprieve. I still have to marry that wretched woman when I come home.”

“Perhaps not.”

The creases in Arthur’s forehead deepened as he looked at his sister as if she was speaking another language. “What are you talking about? I’ve tried to get Father to change his mind, but he won’t. If you try, you’ll just make him angrier.”

“I’m not suggesting talking to that stubborn fool again. He had his chance to see reason and now it’s too late. You have to take matters into your own hands now and change this destiny that has been thrust upon you.” Her chest heaved when she finished.

This shouldn’t be a surprise to him. Morgana was a highly passionate person who always seemed on the cusp of a speech due to any perceived injustice, no matter how minor it seemed to anyone else. There was just something about the look in her eyes - the fierceness, passion, and confidence - that had Arthur gobsmacked. Arthur hadn’t thought that who he married was something that she was this passionate about. He cleared his throat. “Do you have a plan in mind or are you just ranting?”

“Arthur, do I have to think of everything?” She didn’t pause to let him respond. “Well, obviously, yes thinking is not your strong point. You have to use this opportunity to find someone you can really love and marry.”

That? That was her grand plan? He shook his head and walked away from his sister. “That makes absolutely no sense. You expect me to just find some random person, fall in love with them in six weeks, and then convince Father to let me marry this person even though Camelot tradition clearly states that I have to marry someone of noble blood?”

“Yes.” Morgana shrugged.

“You can’t seriously be that delusional?”

That was probably not the best thing to he could have said to her. Her nostrils flared and she shoved him in the shoulder. “Look, Arthur this isn’t just about you.”

His laughter was mirthless. He wasn’t trying to be cruel or to blow Morgana off, but he was tired of going around in circles about this issue. “That’s funny considering _I’m_ the one about to get married to a harridan from the bowels of hell.”

Morgana took a brief moment to snicker before she set her angry glare upon her brother once again. “But when you marry her she becomes princess and eventually Queen of Camelot. Do you really want _Vivian_ to have any kind of a say over your people’s lives? You care too much about Camelot to let that happen.”

Of course Morgana was right. This wasn’t just about him. His marriage to Vivian would affect Camelot as well. Arthur clutched the dagger he’d just pulled from his desk. He slumped down into his chair. “You really think this could work?”

“Yes.” Morgana said simply as she walked around the desk and kneeled down by Arthur’s chair. She squeezed Arthur’s knee. “I know that I say _a lot_ of bad things about our father, but I truly believe that if you find someone to love: someone beautiful, strong, worldly, and intelligent - someone perfect for you! - then he won’t stand in the way of your happiness.”

As he leaned closer to Morgana, Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose. After a minute, he looked up at her. “And just where am I supposed to find this perfect person?”

This time, the look of confidence in Morgana’s eyes had Arthur a little scared. “Oh, I have an idea.”

~*~

Ealdor.

When Morgana had told him about his mother’s hometown, he never thought he’d ever set foot there but now he was on a jet and heading for the small town.

Arthur stole a glance out the window and then fought off a shriek when the long metal vessel his sister assured him was safe lurched once again and he was jostled against his seat. He glanced over at Gwaine, who didn’t seem disturbed by the movement whatsoever and grinned over at Arthur.

Arthur carefully stuffed his mother’s picture in his pocket and closed his eyes. He just wanted to safely be on the ground. He was sorry that he allowed Morgana to sway him into doing this.

He wasn’t even sure how Morgana had pulled this off and he wasn’t sure he even wanted to know. The only thing he knew was Morgana was apparently intimately familiar with the pilot and got him to take Arthur and Gwaine to Ealdor without Uther’s knowledge. She had also arranged for the hotel that Arthur and Gwaine would stay at. She had assured Arthur that it was the best hotel Ealdor had. The only obstacle now for Arthur was how to get there in one piece.

They’d been in the air for an hour and he was assured that they were set to land shortly. Never one for idle chatter anyway, Arthur hadn’t opened his mouth the entire time they were in flight, mostly in fear that he would lose the contents of his stomach. As soon as the jet touched down, Arthur was out of his seat. When the door opened he was out so fast he almost left a vapor trail. He managed to refrain from literally kissing the ground, but he stuck his head between his legs and tried to catch his breath.

He heard Gwaine leisurely come up behind him and take a long deep gulp of air and let out a long, satisfied sigh. “That was fun.” He slapped Arthur on his back.

Arthur looked up and shot him a withering glare.

“It looks like our chariot awaits.” Gwaine pointed in front of them.

Arthur stood up slowly and glanced at where Gwaine pointed.

There was a large, oddly shaped black object next to the jet. If he remembered accurately what Morgana had taught him, it was a car. Arthur sighed inwardly. _Great another deathtrap_.

There was an older man that stood next to the car and smiled at the two of them.

“I believe that’s the taxi Morgana said would be waiting for us.” Gwaine explained. “Are you ready to go or do you need another moment, princess?”

Arthur ignored Gwaine. He squared his shoulders and took a deep breath and got his bearings back before he strode forward.

The friendly looking man next to the taxi was balding, but had a neat, nicely trimmed beard. As Arthur approached, he opened the car door. “Hello, Mr. Pendragon I presume?”

“Who else would I be?” Arthur replied gruffly.

The driver’s smile faltered a bit. “Mr. Pendragon, it will be my pleasure to be your driver today. My name is Geoffrey. Do you have any luggage, sir?”

“Yes.” Arthur got into the car and then turned back and looked at Gwaine. “Are you planning on getting the bags anytime soon?”

Gwaine looked back and the three large red and gold trunks that they had with them. “I’m not doing this on my own.”

“I can help if you’d like, sir.” The driver piped in.

“I think he can manage.” Arthur said as he sat back in his seat. “But if you insist.”

Gwaine stuck his head in the car. “Allow me to remind you, _sire_ , I am here for your protection. I’m not your servant.”

Arthur got directly in Gwaine’s face. “And allow me to remind you that are here by order of the King. And I am your prince, you will do whatever I ask or you’ll have to deal with him.”

Gwaine growled and stepped back.

Arthur didn’t necessarily enjoy being such a prat. But that side tended to come out when he was stressed, worried, or embarrassed and right now he was all three. They had barely been in Ealdor for ten minutes and Arthur already felt overwhelmed. He was, literally, on unfamiliar ground here and he needed to feel confident and in control of something.

He also just liked bossing Gwaine around. Even as Prince he didn’t always have the upper hand with him, but now with Gwaine being solely responsible for Arthur’s safety Gwaine had a lot more that rested on his shoulders.

It took Gwaine and the taxi driver twenty minutes to get the trunks packed in and tied to the car. Gwaine was clearly unhappy with Arthur and the car practically shook when he closed the car door.

Arthur took out a peek out of the window and almost reared back at how close the other objects where to them. He had never seen anything like it. There were so many shapes, colors, and sizes and they were a bit of a blur as they whizzed past. It was also very noisy all around them and it made Arthur feel disoriented.

He swallowed down some nervousness and looked over at Gwaine. Gwaine smirked as he stared down at Arthur’s hands. When Arthur looked down, he saw that his hands clutched the seats. As soon as he saw that he loosened his grip and scowled at Gwaine.

“Don’t pretend you don’t find this more than a little awkward. Morgana may have told us about these things but it’s one thing to hear about it and another to see them. They’re moving so fast, I don’t understand how they don’t crash into each other.” Arthur tried to keep the slight tremor out of his voice.

“According to Morgana that does happen.” Gwaine answered as he provided little comfort.

Arthur shook his head and tried to look on the bright side. He supposed if they did crash and die, at least he wouldn’t have to face his father if his ruse was ever uncovered. Arthur had told his father that he would be going to London. Uther had sent Arthur off with a look of great pride in his eyes. Arthur was surprised at how excited Uther seemed about Arthur’s trip. Arthur had been even more surprised when Gwaine had informed him that his father had personally asked Gwaine to act as Arthur’s personal bodyguard. Gwaine wasn’t known as being the most responsible of knights, but he was the strongest.

Gwaine had just grinned at him when he told Arthur of the arrangement. Arthur didn’t think Gwaine would have liked to have the sole responsibility of looking after him. But of course for Gwaine it was simpler than that. (“A free trip and actually being given carte blanche by the King to go forth and fornicate. Yeah, I’m going to pass that up.”) Arthur trusted Gwaine and told him about their true destination, and his desire to find his own bride, though he neglected to mention the part about the connection to his mother.

Arthur shook off the thoughts of his father and tried to concentrate on the view outside. When he was on the plane he had mostly closed his eyes the entire way and tried to not focus on thoughts of his imminent death. But now he really got to see his mother’s hometown and he had to admit that he wasn’t impressed. He really didn’t know what he expected. It was clearly a different place than Camelot, and actually much bigger. He saw buildings of different shapes and sizes grouped together. There weren’t many people on the side of the road but of the people he saw everyone’s manner of dress was different than what he was used to in Camelot.

While it was bigger than Camelot not one place looked as fancy or sprawling as the castle, but nothing was as simple and ordinary as it was in the lower town. It was a bit underwhelming for Arthur. He supposed he thought his mother came from somewhere that was fit for a Queen.

His disappointment increased when they stopped in front of the Dragon Inn. He had at least expected the hotel to be as big as their castle. But it was nowhere near as tall or as grand and it certainly didn’t seem to live up to the title of Dragon. It was a thin building of just two stories. There were two short green columns in front. The building was a pale, sickly yellow color with a green door.

Arthur leaned forward toward the cab driver. “This is the best Ealdor has to offer?”

Geoffrey smiled. “The staff is the best around, very nice and hardworking.”

Arthur suppressed an eye roll. “That’s lovely. But I’m more concerned with residing somewhere that is more fitting for someone like me.”

The older gentleman narrowed his eyes slightly. “If you’re looking for a bigger hotel than you would probably want the Albion.”

Arthur nodded, even the name sounded better to him. “Then we should go there.”

Geoffrey looked at the Dragon Inn with a bit of dismay. “Are you sure? I can vouch for the reputation of the Dragon. I’ve had family stay here and they were more than happy.”

“I’m sure.” Arthur said without hesitation. “Let’s go to the Albion then.”

“As you wish, sir.”

Gwaine rolled his eyes when Arthur sat back again. “You didn’t even step inside. Perhaps the place would have actually met with your royal standards.”

“I’d rather not take any chances.” Arthur replied.

Gwaine sighed. “I don’t care. I just want to lie down somewhere. My back is killing me.”

“That’s because you didn’t pack the trunks properly. I saw you doing it and you really should try to lift with your knees. Remember that for next time.” Arthur didn’t miss the spark of rage in Gwaine’s eyes or his clenched fist.

“I’ll bear that in mind...you pompous prat.” Gwaine mumbled.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.” Gwaine grinned.

“I assume you two are new to this area?” The driver said and glanced back at them briefly.

“Yes.” Arthur answered simply, not really in the mood to provide more information.

“Excuse me.” Gwaine spoke up.

Geoffrey tilted his head slightly in Gwaine’s direction but still kept his eyes on the road. “Yes?”

“What’s the best place to meet women?”

Arthur gaped at him. “Why would you ask something like that?”

Gwaine shrugged. “Why not? That’s why we’re here isn’t it?”

“Yes, but there’s such a thing called tact and decorum.” Arthur lectured.

“Do you want to be tactful or do you want to have sex?” Gwaine whispered.

“I’m not here to have sex.” Arthur said louder than he intended. He looked over at their driver, but it didn’t seem as if he paid their conversation any heed.

Gwaine rolled his eyes. “Fine, you’re here to find true love. Doesn’t mean you can’t have sex at the same time.”

“We’ve arrived at the Albion.” William declared.

Arthur was grateful to not have to continue that conversation. He turned to Gwaine with a sly grin. “You know what to do, Gwaine.”

Gwaine sneered and got out of the car. Arthur got out on the other side. He smiled. Now this was more like it. The Albion was taller and bigger than the Dragon Inn. It had several huge columns in the front. It had a huge plush red carpet that led all the way to huge glass doors and what looked like a very large and impressive front desk.

Arthur strode inside confidently. He didn’t want to draw too much attention to himself so he had refused to even pack his crown but tried to still conduct himself like royalty. He had on black button-down shirt, black trousers, and his traditional red cape tied around his shoulders. He had on quite a few pieces of gold jewelry. “I’d like a room, please?”

“My name is Freya and I’d be happy to assist you with that.” He was greeted warmly by a tall woman with curly black hair. “Will you just need one room, sir?”

Arthur considered requesting two rooms but he figured that Gwaine could just sleep on the floor. It had nothing to do with the fact that Gwaine had told him once that he slept in the nude.

“Just one.”

“What kind of room would you like?”

Arthur furrowed his brow. Morgana indicated this should be fairly simple, just ask for a room and that would be it. He wasn’t prepared for questions. “I just need a large room to sleep in and where I can eat.”

Freya pursed her lips. “A large room? We have several different room types - deluxe, executive, suites.”

“Deluxe.” Arthur tested out the word slowly. “I like the sound of that. Is that the largest room you have?”

“That would be one of our suites.”

“Then I’d like a suite.”

“Excellent, sir. That will be 350 pounds per night? How long will you be staying with us?”

Arthur took out the wallet Morgana had given him and took out a huge wad of bills. Morgana said she had wanted to get him a credit card, but there wasn’t time. “Six weeks.”

“Six weeks.” Freya repeated.

Arthur handed over the money. “If you would count that please? I’m not very good with money yet.”

Freya looked at the money a bit warily, but after she scrutinized Arthur for a moment she took the proffered money.

“The room it has a…” Arthur searched for the word he was looking for. Morgana had explained it to him in a conversation that had made him cringe, but he blanked on the word presently. “That room where you…” He scrunched up his face.

The young girl narrowed her eyes and looked at him curiously but didn’t say anything.

Arthur gestured at his lower region. “You use it to…” Arthur wanted to crawl into a hole and die. “Toilet!” He suddenly exclaimed.

Freya almost jumped back at the volume of his voice.

“Does it have a toilet?” He said more softly.

Freya’s eyes widened slightly. “All of our rooms are equipped with bathrooms which have...toilets.”

“Good.” Arthur smiled. “I was told that was important.”

Freya handed him back a few notes. “Right.” She said slowly.

That was probably the most embarrassing encounter in Arthur’s whole life. He slunk away after Freya had handed him their room keys. He waited impatiently for Gwaine to arrive with their luggage. He didn’t even consider going outside to wait. The front room of the hotel was large and they had huge comfortable red chairs and Arthur sat down.

“Excuse me?”

Someone with light, delicate fingers touched his shoulder. Arthur turned around and a young woman with wavy, light brown hair stood over him. “Can I help you?”

Arthur was a bit taken when the woman knelt down, touched his shoulder, and looked him directly in the eyes. She spoke some kind of foreign language and Arthur suddenly became paralyzed by the woman’s beauty. He didn’t know how he hadn’t realized it before. He felt as if he was in some kind of haze.

Arthur suddenly felt someone tug at his shoulders. He looked up and instead of the girl from before he was faced with a confused Gwaine. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m doing all the work, that’s what.” Gwaine replied with extreme irritation.

Arthur stood up. His legs felt shaky for some unknown reason. “There was this girl here...”

“Well, I’m happy for you that you remembered why you’re here and that you’ve met someone already. Hopefully, this mystery bird has some kind of medical ability so she can help take care of my broken back.” Gwaine touched his back and stretched back with a groan.

Arthur’s mind was still a little hazy but he couldn’t help a small chuckle. If Gwaine could have killed him with his stare, Arthur would have been a pile of ash on the floor. “I’m sorry about that. Really, Gwaine I should have helped.” He did sincerely feel bad for his friend.

Gwaine looked a bit surprised. “A little late, but thanks. Now I want to lie down and then we can go and explore this wonderful city and all of the women in it.”

Arthur nodded and followed after Gwaine. The memory of the girl from before had started to fade.

 

~*~

Arthur looked out the large window of their hotel room and watched the city below him. The sight of the cars that rushed below still unsettled him somewhat but he felt like he had begun to become acclimated to them. How quiet the city was unsettled him. There weren’t many people on the street below. Directly across from them a few people milled about in the sparse grassy plain, some even sat in the grass and lay down. Arthur could see a few smaller buildings across the street to their left.

Arthur sighed. Somehow, it felt like the six weeks he had here would be gone in a flash and he had no idea where to even start to search for his “true love” as Morgana so cloyingly put it. Even putting aside that this was a foreign place to him, he had never courted anyone before. He had no idea where to even begin.

He heard a slight snuffling sound behind him and saw that Gwaine was up from his nap. Gwaine groaned and stretched. He rubbed at his back before he stood up. He walked over to Arthur and clapped him on the shoulder. “Spot your mystery woman yet?”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t looking for her. It’s so odd that I can barely remember what she looked like.” He shook his head as he contemplated what had happened earlier. She was there one moment and the next thing he saw was Gwaine. It was like he had been under some kind of spell.

“You looked quite dazed when I found you. She seemed to have quite an effect on you.” Gwaine grinned.

“I don’t know why she would have. I don’t even like...” He bit back the end of that sentence. He gave Gwaine a sidelong glance. Gwaine just eyed him with amused curiosity. “Strangers. I don’t like strangers.”

“Right.” Gwaine drawled. He backed away slowly as he scrutinized Arthur.

Arthur could feel his eyes as they burned a hole in his back. Arthur spared a brief glance behind him but quickly turned back around when he saw Gwaine staring at him thoughtfully. Finally he swiveled around and sighed. “What?”

Gwaine shrugged as he stretched out on the bad. “Nothing. Just waiting for you to tell me whatever it is you’re hiding. You may be good at a lot of things Arthur but lying is not one of them.”

Arthur crossed his arms in front of his chest. He took offense to being accused of being terrible anything, even lying. “If I was such a bad liar I wouldn’t have been able to fool my father about this trip.”

Gwaine scoffed. “That was Morgana, mate. That sister of yours is a true force of nature.”

Arthur was slightly concerned about the admiration he heard in Gwaine’s voice. He always thought Gwaine flirted with Morgana out of habit, but now he wasn’t so sure. “She speaks highly of you as well.”

“Really?” Gwaine sat up on his elbows.

“She said your attempts at flirting are the highlight of her day.”

Gwaine grinned.

“Yes, she said she always likes to start her day off with a good laugh.”

Gwaine shrugged, not fazed by Morgana’s insult. He sprang up and crossed the large room to a desk in the corner. He picked up a yellow book and crossed back and sat down on the bed.

“What’s that?” Arthur pointed to the book.

“I talked to William, a lovely fellow by the way, while we were unloading _your_ luggage and he said if we were looking for something we could find it in the yellow pages.” Gwaine explained.

Arthur walked away from the window and looked at the book over Gwaine’s shoulder. “You really expect that I’m going to find someone through some book?”

“You just have to know what to look for?”

“And what is that?”

Gwaine smirked as he turned to Arthur and brandished the book. “Queens.”

 

~*~

Arthur and Gwaine stood outside the small black building that had a small sign in purple that read “Queens.” He could hear some loud music that filtered out onto the street. Even though they hadn’t stepped foot inside, Arthur had a bad feeling about this. “I don’t know about this.”

“Why not? What’s the worst that could happen?” Gwaine said as he bobbed excitedly up and down. He was obviously itching to have some fun. “You have to start somewhere Arthur.”

Arthur didn’t say anything, just looked at the front of the building.

“If you don’t like it we can just leave.”

Arthur watched a few men dart into the building. Some of them walked in with huge grins on their faces, others hurried in with their heads down. There was something about the building, perhaps the black color, which seemed to set it apart from the other buildings around.

Arthur sighed deeply and walked in. Gwaine followed closely.

After they paid to get in, which Arthur, even without any experience with this, thought was far too steep a price, they walked to the back slowly. The music got louder and the whole building seemed to come alive with it.

They walked in and Arthur’s mouth dropped open. Some woman was standing on a raised platform in the middle of the room and she gyrated around a thin silver column. Men were gathered around and chanting excitedly.

What the hell was this?

He looked over at Gwaine, who looked like he might have an orgasm right on the spot.

When he looked back he was instantly blinded when something hit him in the face. He dragged it off and it was some sort of lacy undergarment and when he looked up at the front of the building, the woman’s breasts were on display.

“Oh my God!”

 

~*~

It’s safe to say that Arthur wanted to leave the establishment. But Gwaine’s arguments and Arthur’s curiosity persuaded him into staying for at least a few minutes. But after being bored with all of the lady bits that flew around, the loud music, and the overly stimulated men, including Gwaine, Arthur had enough.

“We have to leave.” Arthur walked over to Gwaine, who was sliding a note into the woman’s underwear.

“Why?” Gwaine whined.

“None of this is appealing to me.” Arthur reasoned.

“But look,” Gwaine gestured up at the woman who had splayed her legs and was grinding against the pole. She waved at Arthur.

Arthur sighed and gave a small wave. “No offense to this young lady but I think it’s clear I’m not going to find a wife here.”

The young woman shrugged and moved over to the group of men on the other side of the platform.

“Thanks.” Gwaine said sarcastically.

“Let’s go.”

“Why do I have to go?”

Arthur furrowed his brow in confusion. “We came here together.”

“And?” Gwaine said. “I can find my way back to the hotel.”

“Why would you want to stay here?” Arthur said incredulously as he looked around in distaste. “I’m sorry but a night at looking at women’s breasts does not thrill me. It’s fairly-”

Gwaine raised an eyebrow at him.

“It’s indecent.” Arthur covered.

“I think it’s fun. So you go to the hotel and find something decent to do and I’ll stay here.”

Arthur frowned. “Gwaine-”

“Aw, is the princess afraid of being alone?” Gwaine teased.

Arthur’s frown deepened. “How would I get in touch with you if something were to happen?”

“Your concern is so touching.” Gwaine touched Arthur’s face.

Arthur instantly batted his hand away.

“We both have those cell phones Morgana gave us and I know how to use mine.” Gwaine said, his gaze was half on Arthur and half on the display behind him.

“Are you implying I don’t how to use mine?” Arthur replied icily.

“I wouldn’t dream of implying that you may be grossly incompetent at anything, milord.”

Arthur threw up his hands. Gwaine was testing his patience. “Fine, stay here.”

Before Arthur head out the door, Gwaine called after him. “Be careful.”

 

~*~

Arthur groaned. “Damnit, Gwaine!”

Honestly, this probably wasn’t entirely Gwaine’s fault. Arthur stuffed his hands into his quite convenient pockets and still came away empty-handed. He couldn’t find his stupid room key. If Gwaine were here they could just use his, but no he had to stay behind and revel in debauchery.

Arthur trudged over to the elevator, another device that made him nervous, and go over to the front desk. Freya was still there and Arthur winced.

“Hello.”

She smiled at him. “Hello. May I help you?”

“I seem to have misplaced that key thing you gave me. Do you remember me?”

Freya nodded slowly. “Toilets.”

Arthur looked down in embarrassment. He was sure his face was a deep shade of crimson right about now. “Yes, that’s me.”

“I can give you another spare key, Mr. Pendragon.” Freya offered helpfully.

Once he’d gotten the key and headed into his room, he flopped back onto the large bed. It wasn’t quite as comfortable as his bed back in Camelot, but it wasn’t half bad. He looked around the room and smiled. It was a nice coincidence that the room was decorated in the traditional Camelot reds and yellows. It made him think of home and he was surprised that he felt a slight twinge of longing. He hadn’t been gone long, but he did miss home.

There was a large red couch with yellow pillows - that Gwaine would sleep on - where they placed one of their trucks. It was where he had placed his mother’s picture. He got up off the bed and shuffled over to it.

He did a double take when the trunk was nowhere to be found. None of their luggage was in the room. Arthur tried not to panic. He didn’t exactly know how things were done around here. Perhaps someone had come into the room and placed their luggage somewhere more appropriate.

Arthur raced downstairs.

Freya raised her eyebrow at his appearance at her desk again. “Mr. Pendragon, if you have a problem, there is a phone in your room-”

“I don’t need another phone. Did someone come into our rooms and remove our things?”

Freya was slack-jawed for a moment. “Sir, we have housekeeping but they wouldn’t have been in your rooms yet and I assure you they wouldn’t take anything from the rooms.”

“Then where are my things?” Arthur ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Everything in my room is gone!”

 

~*~

After Freya and a couple of other staff members calmed Arthur down, they called the police. Arthur had called Gwaine but the wanker didn’t pick up.

Arthur was far too agitated to stick around and wait for the authorities. He would handle this himself. Since Gwaine wasn’t answering, Arthur headed back to Queens. He didn’t care how large this town was, he would find the culprits who had stolen his things and when he got his hands on them…

Of course he cared about his clothes and his jewelry, but the only thing that mattered to him, the only thing that was irreplaceable was the picture of his mother. If he lost that he didn’t know what he would do.

Halfway to his destination, a man bumped into him. The man had greasy hairy, a dirty face, and his clothes were disheveled. Arthur wondered if he was coming from Queens. He almost fell over and Arthur caught him. A flash of gold caught his eye. The man wore a ring that looked familiar to him. As the man clutched at Arthur’s shoulder, he saw that the ring had emblazoned on it the dragon that was part of his family’s crest.

Arthur shocked the man when he slammed him against the wall of some building and ripped the ring from his hand. “This is mine. Where did you get it?”

The man’s eyes widened with fear. “It’s mine.”

Arthur squeezed the man’s hand. “I have broken more men’s bones then you could ever dream.” He squeezed harder. “If you lie to me again, you will join those other men. Look into my eyes and tell me if I’m lying.”

The man’s whole body trembled and he shakily pointed to his left. “A man around the corner is selling jewelry.”

Arthur let the man go and raced to where the man pointed. He rounded the corner and ran into an alley between two small brick buildings. It was too dark to see anything at first, but as he traveled further he saw an older man and young girl in a gold cloak were talking to a skinny younger man.

“Hello?” He called out.

The younger man, who appeared skittish, squawked and ran past him.

As Arthur stepped forward, he thought that he possibly recognized the girl. “Are you selling jewelry?”

The man held onto a large staff by his side and glared at Arthur. “I don’t believe that’s any of your concern.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” The young woman by his side removed the hood over her head and long wavy light brown hair cascaded down her back. She seemed to recognize Arthur at the same time that the memory came back to Arthur.

“You’re the girl from before. You talked to me after I checked in to the Albion. You touched my cheek and then...What did you do to me?”

The brunette started to step closer to him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Arthur growled in disgust. “Do you think I’m a fool? I’ve had experience with sorcerers. Are you a witch?”

“Something like that.” Her eyes turned an unnatural shade of gold.

Arthur flinched, but didn’t back down.

She inched closer and tried to touch him.

Arthur backed away and held up his hand. “Don’t you dare.” He threatened menacingly.

She held up her hands and grinned mischievously. “Fine. We tried to be gentle.”

Arthur crossed his arms over his chest and laughed mockingly. “An old man and girl - I’m very scared.”

The older man hobbled over. “You should be.” He held up a shiny black metal object.

“I’m not afraid of your items of sorcery.” Arthur said forcefully.

The two thieves before him exchanged a strange look. “I may not have magic like my daughter, but this gun should solve our problems quite nicely.”

“A gun?” Arthur sneered. “What the hell is that?”

The man raised his eyebrows and looked at Arthur askance. “It’s what is going to kill you if you don’t leave right now.”

Arthur took a deep breath and held up his hands. He wasn’t afraid of this man and his magical gun but he just wanted to let this night be over. “Look, you can keep everything you took but I just want one thing back. That’s all.”

“We’re listening.” The girl replied with interest.

“There was a picture of a woman. It was in a silver frame. You can have the frame. I just want the photograph.” Arthur tried to keep the emotion out of his voice, but he could hear his voice hitch slightly.

The girl advanced toward him and eyed him slowly up and down. “What’s it worth to you?”

Arthur’s hands clenched at his sides. He wanted to strangle her. “Worth? You’ve just stolen all of my things, including most of the money I had. What more do you want?”

She slinked closer but Arthur made sure to keep her at arm’s length. “We want more money. As far as I see it we have all the power here. If you don’t like our terms, my father would be happy to shoot you and we can leave. We win either way.”

The thought of harming a girl, even an obviously evil one, did not sit well with Arthur but he had enough of this. He growled and pushed the girl aside. He began to charge at the older man. He aimed the object in his hand at Arthur’s chest.

“Wait!”

Arthur whipped his head around to find out who had screamed out. There was a skinny young man, with dark hair, and stuck out ears, standing a few feet behind him. His arm was stretched out in front of him. Arthur admired the young man for be willing to help, but he didn’t think the boy would be able to help and didn’t want him to get hurt.

“Go and call the police! I can handle this!” Arthur shouted back to the young man.

Arthur was surprised when the boy rolled his eyes slightly and ran forward.

“Put the gun down!” He ignored Arthur and directed his words at the other man.

Arthur stepped in front of the new arrival. “Stay back!”

“How do you have this handled? He has a gun. What do you have?”

Arthur bristled at the boy’s tone. “I’m a warrior. I have strength, speed and intelligence.”

The boy blinked up at him slowly. “Okaaaay...that’s not going to help you here.”

“You don’t know that.”

A loud bang rang out in the air. Arthur and the brave, if a bit rude, boy jumped.

The older gentleman before them lowered the weapon and pointed it again at Arthur. “Now boys if you don’t mind my daughter and I would like to leave.”

“I want my mother’s picture!” Arthur shouted as he advanced towards the older man slightly. The other boy held him back.

“You will get nothing from me except a bullet if you don’t let us pass!” The older man screamed.

“You’re not going anywhere. And I’m not going to ask you to lower the gun again.” The big-eared boy gritted out.

Arthur was surprised at the strength in his voice. It chilled him to the bone. He threw a glance over his shoulder.

After that everything happened quickly. He turned just in time to hear another loud bang erupt. He didn’t think, but stepped to the side to further block the young man behind him. He heard the boy cry out and Arthur found himself shoved into the brick wall next to him.

The wind was knocked out of Arthur. By the time he caught his breath and looked up the older man was sprawled out on the floor. He turned his gaze to the other boy and gasped. His eyes were glowing. His hand was still outstretched and was aimed at the young girl who was shaking and looking between the young man and her prone father.

“If you know what’s good for you, you will stay there.” Arthur’s savior said icily.

The girl seethed and screeched as she ran forward.

The man shouted something that Arthur couldn’t decipher. His eyes glowed brighter and the girl cried as she was flown through the air and landed next to her father.

Arthur stared at the man before him open-mouthed. He couldn’t believe that he’d seen what he just had. The skinny young man before him was reaching a hand out tentatively toward him. The only thing Arthur could manage to say was, “What?”

The dark-haired man was looking at him with such concern in his eyes that Arthur momentarily forgot about his shock. “Are you hurt?” The man asked him.

Arthur shook himself. “You – you used magic.” Arthur pointed at him and winced.

The stranger reached forward and gingerly touched Arthur’s right shoulder. When he pulled his hand back, he looked down and gasped. “You’re bleeding. You’ve been shot!”

Arthur narrowed his eyes slightly. “I’ve been what?”

The young man wrinkled his nose. “Shot?” When Arthur continued to stare at him blankly, he motioned to Arthur’s shoulder. “You’ve been shot.”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “Continuing to repeat the word won’t make me know what the hell you’re talking about.”

The other man shook his head. “That man…” He pointed to the unconscious thief on the ground. He turned to Arthur and began to speak slowly. “ _Shot_ you with _bullets_ from his _gun_ ” He pointed at the weapon lying next to the man on the ground.

Finally some kind of recognition sparked in Arthur.

The man sighed. “How can you not know what being shot means?”

Arthur tried to move away from the wall he was propped against, but found that the movement sent shooting pains through his shoulder, so he stayed where he was. “Perhaps because where I come from people don’t go around _shooting_ people with… _guns_.” He shook his head. “You know what, I don’t care. You’re changing the subject.”

The man recoiled backwards slightly. “I’m sorry. _I’m_ changing the subject? The subject isn’t the gaping wound in your shoulder?”

Arthur sighed. “It’s not a gaping wound. I can barely feel it. Don’t be so dramatic. I want to know why you did that.”

The young man rubbed a hand against his forehead slowly. “What are you talking about?”

“You used magic!” Arthur said as if it was quite obvious what he was referring to. He was grateful for the man’s assistance but he was becoming more than a little annoyed. He didn’t want to admit it but the pain in his shoulder was increasing. He was tired, in pain, and more than a little confused. “Why would you risk using magic like that?”

“Risk?!” The man looked at Arthur carefully. “You really aren’t from around here, are you? I don’t know what it’s like where you come from, but in Ealdor magic is perfectly legal.”

Arthur slid down the wall. “Alright, I think I need to lie down now.” Then everything went dark.

 

~*~

The first thing Arthur noticed before he even opened his eyes was a slight throbbing sensation in his shoulder. It took him a few moments before he remembered what happened before he...fainted? Arthur had never fainted before in his life, even one time when he was skewered in the shoulder by a sword in a training exercise.

Arthur’s eyes flew open and he fought for breath when he looked up and was met with crystal clear blue eyes and a mop of curly brown hair. He looked familiar but wasn’t the same man who had saved him before.

Arthur jumped up and backed into a wall. The feel of the cold wall against his back caused him to look down and realize for the first time that he was shirtless. A ridiculous surge of modesty hit him and he covered his chest with one arm. “Who are you?”

The man held up a hand and tried to speak in a soothing tone. “It’s alright. My brother brought you here to our clinic after you’d been shot. My name is Mordred.”

Arthur thought back. “Right. Shot? With a gun?”

“Yeah. Merlin said you were having a bit of trouble with that fact.”

“I hope it’s not a common occurrence for people to be shot around here.” Arthur replied. He didn’t understand why everyone had difficulty with Arthur’s lack of knowledge when it came to guns.

He thought back on the conversation he had with this _Merlin_ and then suddenly everything rushed back to him. His eyes widened. “Oh my God! He used magic!”

“Yes, I did!” Merlin walked briskly into the room.

Arthur shook his head in confusion. “But that’s not allowed.”

“I told you it is here.” Merlin took a step toward him.

Arthur recoiled and tried to retreat further but his back as literally against the wall.

“You don’t have to be afraid of me.”

Arthur just stared back at him.

“I saved your life, remember?” Merlin said gently.

His blue eyes gazed intently at Arthur and Arthur found most of his fears began to melt away. Something in the depths of those eyes soothed Arthur. They almost felt familiar.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” After a slight pause, he took another step forward. “What’s your name?”

“Arthur.” Arthur croaked.

Merlin nodded. “I’m Merlin.” He pointed behind him. “And that’s my brother, Mordred.”

“I know.” Arthur said. He loosened up a bit and didn’t press himself quite so hard against the wall, though he didn’t move from it either.

“You’re clearly not from around here. Where are you from?” Merlin asked.

Arthur had no idea what Merlin or his brother knew about Camelot or if they had ever heard of it. But after everything his father had taught him Arthur didn’t feel like he should trust these people with too much information about him, even though there was a huge part of him that wanted to trust Merlin. Perhaps even did trust him already. “I’m from just outside of London. It’s a small country called...Mercia.”

Merlin gave him a blank look. “I’ve never heard of it.”

Arthur sighed. “Yes, well it is a small country.”

“And there’s no magic there? It’s outlawed?”

“No.” Arthur said perhaps a bit too quickly.

“But you seemed surprised when I used magic.” Merlin’s brow furrowed.

“What I meant was that magic isn’t outlawed in Mercia. I’ve never even seen it before. No one there has magic. I’ve read about but I didn’t know it really existed.”

Merlin definitely did not look convinced. “You said magic wasn’t allowed. You asked why I would risk using magic. If you didn’t know real magic existed, why would you say that?”

Arthur bit his lip. Gwaine had a point when he said that Arthur wasn’t the best liar, but knew he had to come up with something quickly and it had to be convincing. Finally, he sighed and took a step towards Merlin. “You misunderstood. I’d just been shot and I was confused. What I meant was that I didn’t understand why you would risk your life for me at all. I was just a stranger. You could have been killed.” That last part was true. It did amaze him*, the bravery that Merlin had shown.

“I had to do something.” Merlin said nonchalantly. “I should be thanking you.”

Arthur scrunched up his face. “Why would you need to thank me?”

“When that wanker fired the gun, you stepped in front of me. I’m just lucky I got you out of the way in time otherwise you could have seriously been hurt. Thank you.” He finished sincerely.

Merlin peered at him; he looked so grateful and almost awed by Arthur.

Arthur was overwhelmed by the way Merlin stared at him. Back in Camelot, he was used to playing the role of hero and always basked in other’s praise. But this felt different somehow. He rubbed at the back of his neck. “This is all so odd. You have magic and you saved me. I wouldn’t have expected that.”

Arthur was a bit alarmed when Merlin’s expression hardened slightly. Arthur wasn’t sure what he’d said that might have angered him.

“Why would that surprise you? Not everyone with magic is like those two thieves.”

Of course his father would beg to differ, but after Merlin saved him Arthur wasn’t so sure about anything when it came to magic. And he certainly didn’t want to upset Merlin by making any negative statements about magic. He cleared his throat nervously. “I know that. You saved my life and I’m very grateful. I’m just not used to being the one that needs to be rescued. On top of that being shot, having my things stolen - it’s been a very weird night.”

Merlin gave a sympathetic nod. “I understand.”

They heard the front door of the building open.

“That’s probably dad.” Mordred supplied.

“You called him?” Merlin said with a bit of an accusatory tone.

“Someone was shot outside of our building. Plus, you’ve never stitched up a gunshot wound. I wanted to make sure you did it right. Don’t want anything to happen to our guest.” Mordred smiled at Arthur.

Merlin rolled his eyes. “I did a perfectly good job.”

Arthur heard footsteps come closer to the room they were in room. Arthur looked around the room for the first time. The light in the room was so bright and bounced off the four white walls. There was a tan flat cushion of some sort that he had been lying against. There was a tray with weird, silver instruments and white cloth with, Arthur assumed, his blood on them. He had no idea what kind of building he was in.

“Merlin? Mordred?” A tall man, with long black hair, and a salt and pepper beard, walked into room. He immediately spotted the blood and looked over at his sons. “What happened here? Mordred said someone was shot outside?”

“Yes.” Merlin nodded. “But I stitched him up and he’s fine.” He said as he directed the pointed comment to his brother. “You can see for yourself.”

Merlin’s father directed his gaze to Arthur.

Arthur was taken aback at the man’s reaction. He let out a harsh breath and took a quick step back.

“Father?” Merlin asked with concern.

His father blinked and then seemed to snap out of whatever daze he had been in. He stalked towards Arthur.

Arthur backed up slowly and hit the wall again.

“Who are you?” The older man asked suspiciously.

“My name’s Arthur.”

“Do I know you, boy?”

Arthur shook his head. “I’ve never met any of you before. I’m not from around here.”

“Where are you from?

“M-mercia.”

The man narrowed his eyes; his skeptical expression was the same as Merlin’s.

“Father, why are you interrogating him?” Merlin walked over to the two of them and put a hand on his father’s shoulder.

He looked down at Merlin and backed away. He walked across the room and started cleaning up after Merlin.

Merlin turned to face Arthur. “Sorry, my father has forgotten his manners tonight. His name is Balinor. You’re in his clinic.”

Arthur tried to process that but was confused. “Clinic?”

Merlin tilted his head and eyed Arthur warily. “You’ve never heard that word either?”

Arthur shrugged. “I’m from a small country.”

Merlin pursed his lips. “Alright. It’s sort of a smaller version of a hospital. And I really hope you’ve heard of a hospital before.”

“Yes.” Morgana did mention that in her brief lesson on life in the modern world. He gingerly touched the wound on his shoulder. “Am I alright?”

“Yes.” Balinor replied, his back turned.

“You didn’t even check his wound.” Merlin countered.

Balinor looked over his shoulder. “I don’t need to. I trust you.”

Merlin smiled broadly.

Arthur chuckled when Merlin stuck his tongue out at his brother.

“There’s no reason Arthur can’t leave.” Balinor said firmly. He had turned around and was staring at Arthur.

“Perhaps we shouldn’t rush him. He was just shot and he was robbed.” Merlin twisted around to face Arthur. “The police were here. I don’t know what to tell them to do with the belongings they found in the alley, so they’ve been taken to the police station but as soon as you arrive and offer proper identification you’ll get your things back. I can go there with you, if you’d like.”

Once again Arthur was surprised by Merlin’s kindness. “Thank you.”

Arthur looked over Merlin’s shoulder and Balinor did not seem quite as pleased with Merlin’s generosity. Arthur wasn’t sure why Balinor seemed to take an instant dislike to him.

A thought occurred to Arthur and he looked back at Merlin with some trepidation. He wasn’t sure how to ask his question delicately. “Uh...the scoundrels who stole my possessions...are they...they looked...dead the last I saw them. Are they?”

“My son is not a murderer.” Balinor hissed.

Merlin held up his hand to calm his father down. “It’s a perfectly reasonable question, father.” Merlin gave Arthur a reassuring smile. “They’re not dead. They were just unconscious when you saw them. The constable arrested them.”

Even though Arthur didn’t particularly care what happened to the two thieves, he was relieved that Merlin didn’t have to bear their deaths on his conscious.

Suddenly, there was a loud banging on the front door.

“Who’s that?” Balinor asked as he began to leave the room.

“Not sure.” Merlin answered. He turned back to Arthur. “Unless it’s your friend.”

“My friend?”

“Gwaine?”

Soon they heard heavy footfall and Gwaine barreled into the room. “Bugger! Arthur!” He strode toward him. He cringed when he saw Arthur’s bandaged arm. “Are you alright?”

Arthur nodded.

Gwaine ran his hands through his hair roughly. “If your father finds out about this, he’ll have me killed.”

Arthur winced at the mention of his father. “How did you get here?”

“He called you.” Merlin explained. He walked to the counter at the back of the room and picked up Arthur’s phone. “I heard your mobile ringing and I answered it. I hope that’s okay.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“They told me where you were. I’m so sorry I didn’t answer before.”

Arthur walked toward Gwaine. “Please, tell me you didn’t spend all of your money in that...place?”

“I have a small amount left over. Why?”

“We were robbed.”

Gwaine’s mouth fell open.

Arthur shook his head, frustrated with the situation. “They found a few items, but who knows where the rest of it is. I’m sure our money is gone.”

“Do you have a place to stay?” Merlin inquired.

“We’re staying at a hotel.” Arthur answered.

“Do you think you’ll be able to continue on there?”

“If you need a place to stay, you can come to my flat.” Mordred piped up.

Gwaine, Arthur, and Merlin turned to stare at him.

Mordred seemed to shrink under the three pairs of eyes that stared at him. “Just wanted to be helpful. Arthur did save my brother’s life.”

Arthur eyed Mordred warily. The way Balinor and Mordred stared at him, unnerved him - for different reasons. Balinor looked at him as if he didn’t trust him as far as he could throw him. Mordred’s gaze was somewhat predatory. He kept staring at his chest and made Arthur very aware that he was still half-dressed.

Arthur looked back at Merlin, who stared up at him expectantly. And the way Merlin looked at him - he wasn’t sure how to describe how it made him feel.

“Thank you both for your concern, but we paid in advance for the hotel. That should be fine.” He sighed. “We should probably head back there. It’s been a long day and I’m knackered.”

“Of course.” Merlin bobbed his head. He walked across the room and picked up a small brown container. “These are some painkillers for your arm. Make sure to follow the directions.”

“I’ll make sure that he does.” Gwaine said helpfully.

Arthur rolled his eyes. He would be perfectly capable of following simple instructions without Gwaine’s assistance.

“And…” Merlin took Arthur’s phone. He rapidly pressed a few buttons and handed the phone back to Arthur. “That’s my phone number. If you need me to go to the police station with you tomorrow or you’re not feeling well, just give me a call.”

“I will.” Arthur promised.

“Oh and don’t forget your shirt.” Merlin picked up Arthur’s black shirt from the counter and handed it to Arthur. He looked at Arthur’s chest briefly before he averted his eyes.

After Arthur put on his shirt, they stood around awkwardly for a minute before Gwaine slapped Arthur’s back gently. “Shall we?” He gestured to the door.

Arthur nodded haltingly. He followed after Gwaine.

Balinor had been watching them from the doorway. He was leaned against it and Arthur had to squeeze past him. He could still feel Balinor’s hard stare on his back as he walked away.

Arthur looked back once at Merlin, who smiled briefly. Gwaine exited through the front door and Arthur followed his path.

“Arthur!”

He had one foot out the door, but stepped back quickly when he heard Merlin’s voice. He turned around. “Yes?”

Merlin stepped over to a desk in the front of the room and took something out of a drawer. “I found this among your things in the alley. It seemed really important to you and I didn’t want the police to take it.”

When he spotted the silver frame, Arthur instantly knew what it was. He sucked in a breath when Merlin handed it to him. He stroked the glass above the photo with one finger. He beamed up at Merlin. “Thank you.”

Merlin returned his smile. “You’re welcome. I hope to see you again, Arthur.”

“Me, too.” Arthur was shocked that he really meant it. He turned around and saw that Gwaine had walked back into the room. He eyed the exchange between Arthur and Merlin and looked down at the photo. There was clearly a question in his eyes but he chose not to voice it. He walked out of the room again and Arthur followed.

His legs faltered for a moment, but he got into a taxi that Gwaine had waiting and sat down heavily. He could never have envisioned that his first night in Ealdor would be so strange. It was such a strange night that being robbed and shot wasn’t even the most peculiar things of the night.

That was Merlin. Merlin, a young man, who looked like he had never been in a fight in life, had saved the great warrior Arthur Pendragon. Merlin, the sorcerer, had saved Arthur’s life, who had grown up taught to hate sorcerers and everything they stood for. The people who had robbed Arthur had proved that everything his father had said about sorcerers was true. But Merlin was different. Merlin was good. There wasn’t a doubt in Arthur’s mind about that. But how could that be? It made Arthur’s mind spin.

What made Arthur’s mind spin even more, were the butterflies in his stomach at the thought of seeing Merlin again the next day. He wasn’t sure what that meant and feared analyzing it too closely.

~*~

Arthur ended the call and a smile tried to fight its way onto his face. He turned around and was greeted by a suspicious looking Gwaine. Whatever smile that was about to form died before it reached his lips. “Hello.”

“Was that Merlin?” Gwaine asked, though it seemed as if he knew the answer already.

Arthur nodded. “Yes. He’s going to meet us at the police station.”

“Is that necessary?”

He was standing far too close to Arthur and Arthur didn’t like the way he looked at him. He walked away back to the table where they’d had breakfast. “Yes. You are aware I don’t have any identification and that might make it difficult to get my possessions back. Merlin might be able to help.”

“Do we really need to get any of it back? We can always call Morgana for more money and none of those things are really important.” Gwaine strode over to the bed and opened a drawer in the nightstand.

Arthur stood up immediately.

Gwaine pulled out the photograph. “It seems like this was the only thing that mattered.”

Arthur stalked over to Gwaine and ripped the frame out of his hand.

“That’s your mother isn’t it? She looks just like you.” Gwaine said softly.

Arthur sighed. “Yes, this is my mother.”

“Why have you been hiding that from me?”

Arthur gripped the frame tightly. “It’s private.”

Gwaine sighed. “Arthur, I know you’re keeping something from me. Why won’t you tell me? I know we take the piss out of each other all the time, but I’m your friend. You can talk to me.” He finished genuinely.

Arthur’s gaze flicked to the ceiling and he took a deep breath. He soon shuffled over to the nightstand and put the photograph on top of it. He sunk down onto the bed. “I’m sorry.”

Gwaine sat down next to him. “You’re actually apologizing, so I know you’re serious.” Arthur gave him a withering side-eye. “Sorry.”

“I didn’t mean to keep it secret.” Arthur shook his head. “No, that’s not true. I wanted to keep it to myself. Morgana found out that my mother was born here in Ealdor. She grew up here. That’s the reason I decided to come here. I want to find out more about her.”

“That’s great news, Arthur.”

Arthur bit his lip and looked away. “It is. Part of the reason I didn’t say anything is that I’m a bit terrified.”

“Of what?”

“I’ve wanted to learn things about my mother for as long as I can remember. But what if no one here remembers her? What if I end up finding nothing? Or perhaps I find out  
something I don’t want to know. Maybe there’s a reason other than his grief my father hasn’t said anything.” It felt good to get out his fears.

“Those are all valid concerns, Arthur. But you’ll never find out any answers if you don’t look for them.” Gwaine reasoned.

“I know. I’m going to start to look, even though I’m not sure where I could even start.”

“Perhaps you could start by talking to someone from around here. Perhaps your new friend.” Gwaine hinted with his usual lack of subtlety.

“My new friend?”

 _Merlin._ Gwaine said teasingly.

Arthur rolled his eyes heavenward. “I just met him. We’re not friends.”

“But you’d like to be. I know when I’ve been replaced.”

“Replaced?”

Gwaine opened his mouth and shut it again. Finally he was evasive with his reply. “Never mind.”

He got up and tried to walk away. Arthur gripped his hand before he could meander too far away. “No, not never mind. What did you mean?”

Gwaine looked as if he wanted to be anywhere else. “I just saw the way you were looking at Merlin last night, and I you used to look at me like that.”

Arthur fidgeted under Gwaine’s stare. He was trying to stave off the embarrassment that started to fill his chest. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. What are these supposed looks I’ve been giving you?”

“The sort of looks that I give before I snog someone senseless.” Gwaine said bluntly.

Arthur let out an undignified squawk. “That is ridiculous!”

Gwaine invaded Arthur’s personal space and Arthur tried to keep his breathing even. “Arthur, do you know one of the things that make me a good fighter?” He didn’t want for a reply. “It may surprise you but I am very observant. I’ve seen the looks you’ve given me when I’m undressing.”

Arthur took a step back and hung his head low. He began to shake and didn’t know what to do with his hands. If Gwaine noticed who else might have? Did his father…? No. If his father knew, Arthur would certainly know about it.

Gwaine seemed to know where Arthur’s mind headed and he gripped Arthur’s arms. “I never said anything before because it never bothered me. There’s nothing wrong with it, Arthur. If you like men, it’s not the end of the world.”

Arthur let out a harsh laugh. “Not the end of the world?” He rubbed a hand tiredly across his face. “I’m the Prince of Camelot. I’m supposed to marry and produce an heir. How exactly would I do that if...if what you’re insinuating were true?”

Gwaine twisted his mouth and thought for a moment. He seemed at a loss for words.

“Look, I told Merlin we’d be there soon. So let’s go.” Arthur said tiredly and walked away quickly.

After a few moments, Gwaine followed him. They traveled silently to the elevator. As Arthur pressed the button for the lobby Gwaine spoke up again. “I suppose this isn’t a good time to say I told you so?”

Arthur narrowed his eyes.

“If we had just stayed at the Dragon Inn this might not have happened.” Gwaine said with a rueful tone.

His mouth snapped shut when Arthur glowered at him. Arthur was two seconds away from reaching into his throat and pulling out Gwaine’s vocal cords.

“Right. Not a good time to mention that.” Gwaine said as the elevator doors closed.

 

~*~

Merlin being at the police station did help. He was friendly with the constable on duty, Godwyn Gawant, and Merlin vouched for Arthur which went a long way with the older man. After Arthur lied that his wallet and identification were also stolen he was allowed to claim the scant few items they were able to find that the thieves had on them and hadn’t stolen.

It turned out that the father and daughter duo, Sophia and Aulfric Timor, were not residents of Ealdor and had quite a long history of moving from town to town and stealing from hotels. Arthur confronted them, but neither would say what they did with the rest of Arthur’s things.

“I’m sorry I can’t help your friend more,” Godwyn said as they walked from the cells to the front desk.

Merlin patted the man on the shoulder. “You did your best. Thank you.”

“Yes, I do appreciate it.” Arthur chimed in.

Godwyn smiled at Merlin and looked to Arthur. “You’re very lucky that Merlin was the one that found you. He’s one of the finest young men in Ealdor.”

Merlin blushed. “I didn’t do anything anyone else wouldn’t do.”

“Unfortunately that’s not true. Not very many people are as brave as you.”

Merlin seemed to bristle somewhat at the comment. He swallowed thickly before he replied. “Thank you again. I’ll see Elena at the meeting tonight?”

Godwyn nodded. “She wouldn’t miss it.”

Merlin grinned and waved good-bye to Godwyn.

Arthur clutched the envelope of his things. It was just a few items of jewelry.

Merlin sighed. "So you don't have any clothes and no money."

Arthur rubbed the back of his neck. "It looks that way."

Merlin pondered this for moment. Then he nodded resolutely and turned to Gwaine and Arthur. "Come on. I'm going to buy you some clothes."

Arthur was taken aback at Merlin's suggestion. He shook his head. "No, you don't have to do that."

Merlin gestured to Arthur's shirt. "Do you plan on only wearing a shirt with a bullet hole in it?"

Arthur shrugged. "No, but-"

"But nothing." Merlin interrupted.

Arthur was not used to people interrupting him. It should have annoyed, and did somewhat, but from Merlin he was willing to tolerate it - within reason.

"Sorry, that was rude. But you might have saved my life last night and I need to do something to repay you." Merlin said urgently.

"You saved my life. Don't you think it evens out?"

"No." Merlin said evenly.

"I for one would love to get some new, clean clothes.” Gwaine interjected. “And I’m never going to say no to free things.”

“Stay out of it.” Arthur said.

“Thank you.” Merlin said at the same time. He crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Arthur recognized that stance. It reminded him of Morgana and how stubborn she could be. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

Merlin just shook his head once.

“Fine.”

Merlin grinned widely. “I thought you’d see it my way. Follow me.” He started to walk ahead of them.

As he caught sight of Gwaine, Arthur saw that his friend was smirking. “What are you grinning at?”

Gwaine held up his hands in mock surrender. “Nothing. I’ve just never seen anyone other than Uther tell you what to do like that. You don’t even let Morgana get away with that.”

“He’s not telling me what to do.” Arthur denied. “I’m grateful for what he’s done. That’s all.”

Gwaine still smirked as he nodded skeptically. “Right.”

“Shut it.”

 

~*~

 

Arthur was embarrassed to admit, he still was not quite comfortable dressing himself. Gwaine had to help him get dressed in the morning. But now Gwaine was in a separate dressing room and Arthur had been left to figure things out on his own. Merlin had already bought them several different shirts. The T-shirts were very plain and Arthur had to fight from turning up his nose when Merlin had shown him the first one. But after he tried them on he had to admit they were quite comfortable. And some of the designs on the front of them weren’t so plain and were interesting.

Now, he was trying on trousers. He had struggled, but managed to get them on. Now he was left to work out how to put on the belt, which was far different from his clothes in Camelot. After a few minutes, where he mainly just stared at it, he gave up and stuck his head around the black curtain. “Merlin?” He called out sheepishly.

“Yes?” Merlin step over towards the dressing room area.

“I need a little help.”

“Alright.” Merlin moved the curtain aside and walked in. His face flushed when he saw that Arthur was shirtless. He gulped and looked down. “Half the time I’ve known you haven’t been wearing a shirt.” He laughed nervously. “Not that I’m complaining exactly. You have a nice chest.”

Arthur bit back a smile. Merlin was starting to get as red as a beet.

Merlin rubbed the back of his neck. “And the jeans look great. Very nice and tight.” His eyes widened.

Arthur couldn’t help the snicker that came out. “Merlin, are you alright? I don’t think I’ve seen someone so red in the face before.”

Merlin rubbed a hand across his chest. “I’m fine.” He cleared his throat and tried to focus on Arthur’s face. “You said you needed help with something?”

Arthur’s confidence deflated when he remembered why Merlin had come to his aid. He held up the belt. “I’m not sure how to work this.”

Merlin raised an eyebrow.

“In my defense belts are much simpler where I come from.” Arthur added.

“Okay.” Merlin said as he shook his head. “It’s not really that complicated.” He walked towards Arthur and touched a thin strip at the top of his jeans. “That’s called a belt loop. There are several of them all around the top of your jeans. You take the strap,” Merlin took the belt from Arthur’s hands, “and you put it through the loops.” Merlin did that for him.

He put his arms around him to get at the loops in the back and Arthur sucked in a breath.

When he was finished he stepped back slightly. “Then you take the end of the belt and put it through the buckle and cinch it as tight as you need. Then you put the metal tip through one the holes on the belt.” Merlin looked up at Arthur. “Do you understand?”

Arthur was tempted to ask Merlin to do another demonstration, but he nodded instead.

 

~*~

After Arthur was properly dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans, Merlin went to pay for everything for Gwaine and Arthur. All in all Merlin bought them ten t-shirts, five pairs of jeans, two belts, two packages of underwear, and a pack of socks. Arthur was aghast when he saw that Merlin had paid over 200 pounds.

Merlin waved off his concerns. “Trust me it’s not a problem. My father pays me very well.”

“You work for your father?” Arthur asked as he almost bumped into a small elderly woman, who smiled at Merlin as she passed. They were walking to a local tavern, The Rising Sun, since Merlin had insisted on buying them lunch. Arthur was becoming concerned at how easily Merlin won these arguments.

As they walked into the bar, many people walked up to Merlin to say hello. Every time Merlin turned to talk to Arthur another person walked up to clap Merlin on the back, smile at him, or offer him a friendly word. He was certainly popular. Arthur didn’t think even he got that type of fanfare at Camelot.

Once they were seated Merlin was able to answer Arthur. “Sorry about that. Yes, I work for my father. I manage the clinic.”

“Do you enjoy it?” Arthur asked.

Merlin thought about it for a moment and shrugged. “It’s mostly boring. I spend a lot of time doing paperwork. Sometimes father lets me see patients, if it’s nothing too bad. And people come in with a lot of interesting stories. I get to spend a lot of time with my father’s patients and I enjoy that part of it.”

“People really seem to love you.” Arthur whispered.

There was a small smile on his face as he stared down at the table and scratched at the tabletop with his thumb.

As if on cue, a young man came over to their table. He had short brown hair and seemed to be quite shy as he had trouble making eye contact. “Hello, Mr. Emrys.”

“Daegal, I told you to call me, Merlin.” Merlin said good-naturedly.

Daegal bowed his head farther. “Sorry.”

“Daegal, these are my new friends Arthur and Gwaine.” Merlin gestured to the two men.

Daegal nodded. “Hello.”

“Hello.” Arthur replied.

Gwaine waved.

“I don’t want to interrupt, but I wanted to tell you I’ve decided to come to the meeting tonight.”

“That’s wonderful!” Merlin exclaimed. He beamed up at the boy. “I promise you it’ll be worth it.”

Daegal seemed hesitant but smiled briefly at Merlin before he left.

 

Arthur’s curiosity was peaked. “What’s the meeting for? The constable mentioned it as well.”

“It’s just a gathering of mostly young sorcerers where we can have a safe place to discuss our magic.” Merlin explained.

“It’s not safe to practice magic here?” Arthur asked with surprise. “I thought you said magic was legal here?”

Merlin nodded rapidly. “Yes, it is! And it’s mostly safe here. But that doesn’t mean that problems don’t arise. There are some younger sorcerers that are still confused and have so many questions. I wanted to make sure the young ones, like Daegal and like my brother, have a safe place to discuss any problems or fears they may have.”

“You organized the meetings?” Gwaine asked.

“Yes. I was lucky in that when I grew up, even though there weren’t many other sorcerers my age, I never felt like a freak. But is still wished I had others to talk about my magic with and to share it with.”

Arthur didn’t think he could admire Merlin any more than he did the previous night, but after his passionate explanation he did. It was clear Merlin felt a sense of duty and responsibility to look after other sorcerers. Arthur felt the same way about his knights.

“Those other sorcerers are lucky to have you.” Arthur said genuinely.

Merlin’s eyes clouded over and his mood seemed to darken. He sighed. “We’re all fortunate to live somewhere like Ealdor. Do you know there are places sorcerers are still executed just for having magic?”

Gwaine choked on one of the peanuts he had been devouring.

Arthur briefly glanced over at him. Somehow he was able to keep his composure a lot better than Gwaine had.

Arthur twisted his hands and stared at the floor. “That’s terrible.”

“It’s wrong and it’s disgusting.” Merlin stated emphatically. “I could never imagine living somewhere people were persecuted for having magic.”

Arthur looked over at the next table and gulped in some air.

“Arthur, are you alright?” Merlin touched Arthur’s hand.

“I’m fine.” Arthur lied with far too much enthusiasm. He lowered his voice. “I’m very sorry.”

Merlin tilted his head and studied Arthur. “It’s not your fault Arthur.”

Arthur closed his eyes. “Right.”

Merlin squeezed his hand. “This isn’t something you should be worried about. You have other more important matters to think about.”

“Such as?” Arthur said weakly. He was still thinking about their previous subject.

“What are you going to do for money now?”

Arthur blinked. “I’m not sure.”

“You’re probably going to need a job.” Merlin said.

“A job?” Arthur said incredulously.

“Yes, Arthur you know that thing that normal humans have to earn money and provide for themselves and their families. Because not everyone has the luxury of having everything handed to them.” Gwaine teased.

Arthur made a fist but knew he couldn’t get away with hitting Gwaine in front of witnesses.

“I have a suggestion.” Merlin said as he ignored the interplay between Arthur and Gwaine.

Arthur turned to him and peered at him expectantly.

“We always need help at the clinic - cleaning, stocking, possibly some help with filing.” Merlin offered.

“You want us to work for you?” Gwaine asked slowly.

“Yeah. Why not?”

Gwaine and Arthur exchanged a look. Gwaine turned back to Merlin. “It’s just -”

“We’ll do it.” Arthur interrupted.

Merlin grinned broadly at him. “Excellent!”

Gwaine’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline. Clearly he was skeptical about this idea, and while Arthur had his own doubts he was willing to set them aside if it meant he’d get more time around Merlin. Arthur had seen the servants clean the castle. How hard could it be?

 

~*~

 

Arthur wondered if perhaps he should have thought this through better. He stared at the mop and bucket and wasn’t sure how to proceed.

Gwaine had tried to warn him - after telling him five times that this was a bad idea altogether - that cleaning wasn’t as easy as Arthur had made it sound when he said that any idiot could do it. Turns out Arthur was the idiot.

When they showed up for work, Merlin was there and greeted them with the warm smile that Arthur was becoming accustomed to. He gave them a short tour of the building. It wasn’t a very big place. There was just the small front room with the desk and waiting area for clients and then a few exam rooms in the back.

He had tasked Arthur with the more janitorial tasks and had Gwaine upfront with him working on paperwork. Arthur almost ordered Gwaine to switch assignments with him, but he didn’t think Merlin would appreciate that.

Merlin had shown him a back room with cleaning supplies and given him the mop and bucket to use. He had been staring at it for the last five minutes. He was determined not to ask for help. He didn’t want Merlin to think he couldn’t handle himself.

When Merlin walked into the room, Arthur grabbed the mop handle and started to push the bucket across the floor. He smiled up at Merlin. Arthur could feel Merlin’s eyes on his back and finally turned to look at Merlin.

Merlin stared at him for a long moment. His nose was wrinkled and he looked at Arthur as if he wasn’t sure if he was all there mentally.

“What?” Arthur asked warily.

Merlin started to chuckle. “You’re really funny.”

“I am?”

“That’s a joke, right?” Merlin pointed to the mop in the bucket.

Arthur slowly shook his head.

Merlin put his hand to his cheek and made a soft snort of amusement. “Oh, dear.”

“We don’t really use mops in my country.” Arthur tried to cover.

Merlin walked over and took the mop out of the bucket and the sopping end squelched onto the floor. “How small is that country?”

Arthur looked down at the mop. He supposed that did make more sense. He shrugged at Merlin. “Very small.”

“I’m sure you’ll adjust. It’s not a very hard thing to do.” Merlin assured him.

He patted Arthur on the shoulder and gave him a small smile before he left the room.

Some time later, Arthur really did think he had gotten the hang of using the mop. It didn’t stop the whole process from feeling like a tedious waste of his time. He was a prince, for God’s sakes. He wasn’t meant to be doing menial tasks.

Perhaps his father was right to keep him from making his own decisions. Arthur wasn’t sure if his decision making skill were very good. He shouldn’t have allowed whatever he was feeling for Merlin to allow him to do something so stupid.

Arthur got to Balinor’s office and knocked. Balinor didn’t look up from the paper he was reading but merely grunted for Arthur to come in.

It had been a quiet morning and there had been few patients. Arthur hadn’t seen much of Balinor. He hesitantly walked into the room and began to mop.

Even though Balinor didn’t say a word and hadn’t even glanced in his direction, Arthur thought he could actually feel Balinor’s antipathy for him and it unsettled him. Perhaps he was overreacting, but when Balinor furiously scribbled down on the paper in front of him and then looked up at Arthur briefly and glowered, Arthur gulped. Arthur had faced more formidable men than Balinor. He didn’t know why he was so unnerved by him.

He decided to try and smooth things over with Balinor, even though he wasn’t sure what he had done to offend the man, but he wasn’t sure what to say. He cleared his throat and sighed. “I don’t understand mopping.” He blurted out.

Balinor’s brow furrowed slightly, but he still didn’t say anything.

“It’s just moving dirty water over the floor. How’s that supposed to clean anything?” Arthur laughed tepidly.

Balinor got up and walked towards Arthur.

Arthur swallowed nervously as Balinor briefly looked over at the bucket and the brown water inside. “You need to change the water. And you’re using too much water. You need to wring out the mop.” Balinor said dryly.

“Wring it out?” Arthur replied lamely.

Balinor rolled his eyes. He took the mop from Arthur, bent down and twisted the mop and the excess water dripped into the bucket.

Arthur scrunched up his nose in distaste. He didn’t realize he’d have to touch it. That seemed unsanitary to him.

Balinor stood up and to Arthur’s surprise grabbed one of his hands. He turned Arthur’s hand palm up and then down. “You’ve never worked a day in your life have you?” He shook his head and walked back to his desk. “I warned Merlin this would be a bad idea.”

Arthur took a deep breath. He had just about enough of Balinor’s attitude. He stepped forward. “Have I done something to offend you?” Arthur asked evenly. He tried not to let his anger show.

“What would give you that impression?” Balinor said and finally looked Arthur in the eye.

 _Your surly demeanor, terse replies, or the way that you look at me as if I’m a bug that needs to be squashed. Take your pick._ Arthur thought. But to Balinor he said, “Ever since we met you look at me as I’ve done something to wrong you in some way.”

“My boy was almost shot because of you.” Balinor said gruffly.

Arthur’s head snapped back in shock. “That wasn’t my fault!”

Balinor sighed. He looked annoyed and already tired with this conversation. Is there some particular reason you want me to like you? Are you used to being well liked?”

Arthur pondered that for the moment. He felt that he was generally well-liked in Camelot, though he was sure if anyone did dislike they would have kept it to themselves lest they experience Uther’s wrath. But truly the only person he could think of that disliked him was Vivian. He shuddered at the thought of her. “Yes people usually like me. And if they don’t there’s some reason for their displeasure. I haven’t done anything to you.”

“You remind me of someone I used to know.” Balinor spat out.

“And who was that?” Arthur decided to press his luck.

Balinor just glared at him.

Arthur wasn’t sure if he was contemplating a reply or was just waiting for Arthur to take the hint and leave. Arthur didn’t get to find out which.

“Arthur?” Merlin called out.

He sounded distressed.

Balinor pointed to the door. “Go and do your job.”

Arthur sighed deeply and left.

He found Merlin in one of the exam rooms. The young man from the previous day, Daegal, was seated in front of Merlin. He had a cut on his forehead and was bleeding.

“What happened?” Arthur exclaimed.

“Arthur, I need another box of plasters. Go to the supply closet.” Merlin said while he dabbed at the wound. It didn’t seem that bad, but must have hurt since Daegal wept.

Arthur hurried off and did as Merlin asked. He ran back into the room and handed the box to Merlin.

Daegal sniffled. “I’m such a fool.”

“No, you’re not.” Merlin said firmly. “Anyone could mess up a spell.”

“I’m lucky I didn’t blow up the entire house.” Daegal sighed and looked down at his hands miserably. “I wish I knew how to control my magic better.”

“You’re still learning. It’ll take some time.” Merlin cleaned Daegal’s wound. He examined the cut. “It doesn’t look like you’ll need stitches.”

Daegal just shrugged.

Merlin opened the box of plasters and put a small one over Daegal’s wound.

Daegal looked at Merlin nervously and worried his lip. “This boy Valiant at school says that I’m cursed. He says that magic turns people evil. That’s not true, is it?”

“Of course not. Whoever this Valiant is he’s a complete plank and a liar. Or misinformed. Either way he’s wrong. Your magic is a gift and you can’t let anyone make you feel that there’s something wrong with you. Do you understand?” Merlin said firmly but with compassion.

Daegal bit his lip but nodded.

Merlin patted his knee. “You should be good to go home now.”

Daegal got up and nodded at Merlin. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Daegal passed by Arthur anxiously.

Merlin let out a long sigh and lowered his head.

Arthur stepped further into the room and put a tentative hand on Merlin’s shoulder.

Merlin jumped. “Oh! Arthur, I didn’t know you were still here.” He wiped at his eyes.

“Were you crying?” Arthur asked and inwardly groaned at the stupid question. It was clear that Merlin had been crying.

“I know it’s stupid.” Merlin said and looked up at Arthur sheepishly.

Ordinarily, Arthur wasn’t one for public displays of emotion. He usually found such things a sign of weakness. If he’d found Gwaine weeping he probably would accused him of being a girl. But it was different with Merlin. With the haunted look in Merlin’s eyes and the tears that still stained Merlin’s cheeks, all Arthur wanted to do was dry his eyes and provide Merlin with some comfort.

All Arthur did instead was squeeze Merlin’s shoulder gently. “You obviously care a great deal about the boy. That’s not stupid.”

Merlin gave Arthur a grateful smile. “I never had it as bad as Daegal did, but he just reminds me so much of myself when I was his age. I was so afraid of my magic at first. My father was the one who taught me to embrace it and not be so afraid.”

“At least he has you to talk to.”

Merlin laughed lightly. “It took a lot to get him to open up to me. He didn’t even want to admit he had magic. His classmates have been very mean to him.”

“Has he been hurt?” Arthur didn’t even know the boy, but the depths of Merlin’s concern caused him to worry in kind.

Merlin shuddered. “Thankfully, no.” Merlin hugged his arms to his chest. “Others aren’t so lucky.”

There was something about the sadness and bitterness in Merlin’s voice that made Arthur’s blood run cold. “Merlin?”

Merlin didn’t answer.

“Merlin?” Arthur repeated. When Merlin still didn’t respond Arthur touched Merlin’s chin and turned Merlin’s gaze in his direction. “Merlin, what’s wrong?”

Merlin’s eyes welled with tears.

“What kind of incompetents do you have working here? I nearly-”

Arthur slowly turned to glare at the annoying stranger that stood in the doorway. “What are you doing here? There’s a waiting area for patients. You can’t just barge in here.”

The stranger with light brown, shaggy hair and the annoyed expression gaped at Arthur before he turned to look at Merlin. He pointed at Arthur. “Who’s this git?”

Arthur turned to the other man ready to knock him on his arse.

Merlin strode toward the man quickly and put his hands on his shoulder. “Just calm down, Will.” He twisted around to look at Arthur over his shoulder. “This isn’t a patient, Arthur. This is my boyfriend, Will.”

Arthur’s mouth fell open. The word “boyfriend” echoed over and over in his head. He was pretty sure he knew what the word meant. “You’re dating him?”

Will rolled his eyes. “That is what the word ‘boyfriend’ would suggest. This is the incompetent you hired?”

“Will!” Merlin admonished him.

“What? Those are your father’s words and I see what he means. I slipped and nearly broke my arse thanks to the wet mess Arthur left on the floor.” He patted his butt. “Now my arse is wet.”

“Sorry about that.” Merlin said.

“Why are you apologizing? It’s his fault.” Will glared at Arthur.

Arthur just crossed his arms in front of his chest. He wasn’t about to apologize to this pillock.

Will crossed the room and got uncomfortably close to Arthur. “Have I seen you somewhere before?”

Arthur could safely say he’d never met this idiot before. He’d never set foot outside of Camelot until a few days before and there was no way Will had ever been to Camelot. “I can’t say I’ve ever had the pleasure.” Arthur said wryly.

“I’m good with faces but I’m even better with names. What’s your name?”

“Arthur.” Arthur gritted out.

“Your last name.” Will said in a tone that strongly implied “idiot.”

“It’s,” Merlin started and then rubbed at his forehead. “Wow, I don’t know your last name.”

Will swiveled around to face Merlin. “You hired someone when you didn’t know their last name?”

“It didn’t really occur to me.” Merlin bit his lip and shrugged sheepishly.

“Merlin! You have to be more careful. You can’t let any bum off the street into your life.”

“Oi!” Arthur yelled hotly. “I’m no bum. I’m-” He cut himself off.

Will tilted his head curiously. “You’re what?”

Merlin stalked towards Will and got between him and Arthur. “He’s the man who saved my life. That’s good enough for me.”

Will continued to stare at Arthur. “Sorry love but it’s not good enough for me. I’m still waiting on a last name.”

It’s...Knight.” Arthur winced slightly at the lie. “Arthur Knight.”

Will scrutinized Arthur for a few more moments. “I don’t recognize that name.”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “Is that supposed to mean something?”

“Don’t mind him Arthur. Will’s a bit of a know it all. He thinks he knows everything about everything.” Merlin said. He looked sternly at his boyfriend.

Will didn’t seem fazed by Merlin’s words. “It’s all part of my job.”

“What job is that? Being a professional smart arse?” Arthur shot back.

Merlin snickered briefly, but looked down and covered his mouth.

Will narrowed his eyes at Arthur. “I’m a journalist.”

Arthur’s forehead wrinkled. “A journalist?”

“Arthur’s from a small country. I don’t think they have journalists there.” Merlin explained.

“Where are you from?” Will pounced on that little bit of information.

“You said you were from Mercia. Right, Arthur?” Merlin turned to Arthur, his eyebrows raised.

“Yes.” Arthur whispered. He truly felt guilty for lying to Merlin.

Will tapped his fingers against his chin and looked watched Arthur with a skeptical expression. “You don’t look like you’re from Mercia.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I’ve heard of Mercia. I’ve even visited there. They have really nice, ordinary blokes there. You look like more of a posh git to me.” Will sneered.

“Alright, that’s enough.” Merlin grabbed Will’s hand and pulled him aside. “Arthur is not one of your interviews. Stop interrogating him.”

Will continued to stare daggers at Arthur, but after Merlin tugged on his hand he turned his attention to Merlin. “Look, Merlin I’m sorry.” He said. His voice finally lost the edge that had been there from the moment he stepped foot into the room. “I’m just trying to look after you.”

“I appreciate that. But I can take care of myself. Now what are you doing here?”

Will’s head snapped back. “Lunch. We’re supposed to have lunch. Did you forget?”

Merlin rubbed at his forehead. “Right. Sorry. I’ll get my coat and we can go.”

Will headed out. He turned and gave Arthur one more look of appraisal before he exited.

Merlin strode toward Arthur briskly. He took Arthur’s hand. “I’m really sorry about Will. He’s very overprotective and he likes to pry into things that are none of his business. Though that is part of his job.” Merlin shrugged. “But he shouldn’t have been so rude to you.”

Arthur was grateful that Merlin took the time to explain. “It’s alright.”

“Merlin?” Will bellowed from outside the door.

“I should go. I’ll see you later, Arthur.” Merlin gave him a small smile, squeezed his hand one more time and left.

Arthur let out a heavy sigh. He sat down heavily on the short round chair and yelped when it moved across the room on its own. He steadied himself against the back counter.

This was just what he needed - another man in town who seemed to hate him on sight. Though this time the feeling was mutual. Was there anyone in town who liked him? He let out another sigh and looked up. He was startled to see Mordred. He leaned up against the doorway and gave Arthur a salacious grin.

Well, there was one. Mordred certainly seemed to like him. Perhaps a little too much.

 

~*~

Gwaine and Arthur walked home from work. Arthur lumbered slowly. He was stiff, tired, and irritable. He wouldn’t admit it to Gwaine but, yes, cleaning was hard work. And he was irritable because Merlin had never returned to the office after he left with Will. And he was tired of hearing Gwaine complain about his job.

Apparently, Merlin had discovered that Gwaine had a natural affinity for math. This was a weak spot for Balinor and Gwaine was given the task of balancing the clinic’s books, something that Gwaine repeatedly stated was mind-numbing and made him cross-eyed.

Arthur tried to drown out Gwaine’s complaints which didn’t help his mood since the only thing he could think of was Merlin and his stupid boyfriend.

“Merlin has a boyfriend.” Arthur interrupted Gwaine mid-complaint.

“You have a future bride waiting for you in Camelot. I would say your situation is a bit worse.” Gwaine said bluntly without sympathy.

“That’s different. Merlin actually likes his boyfriend.” Arthur growled. “Though I don’t know why. Will is an arrogant, pompous wanker.”

“Why don’t you two get along?” Gwaine dead-panned.

“Would you like to sleep on the street tonight?” Arthur hissed.

Gwaine just smirked at him but he didn’t say anything else.

“What could Merlin possibly see in him? It would be one thing if he was handsome, but he isn’t. He’s got pasty skin and stupid hair.”

“Why does this bother you so much?” Gwaine asked with genuine concern.

Arthur thrust a hand to his hair and pulled at it roughly. “Because…!” Arthur panted. “Because…”

Arthur stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. “Oh, God!”

It took Gwaine a moment to realize that Arthur was stopped a few feet behind him. Once he looked back, he walked backwards to catch up to Arthur. “What just happened?”

“I’m in trouble.” Arthur said softly.

“Did you forget how to walk?”

Arthur ignored Gwaine. He really couldn’t hear anything but the sound of his rapid heartbeat in his ears. “I think I’m in love with Merlin.”

 

“Oh, boy!” Gwaine said simply.

 

Arthur nodded simply. That seemed about right.

 

~*~

Arthur didn’t say anything else after his revelation to Gwaine. He tried to process everything in his mind. As soon as they got to their room, he began to pace. Gwaine had been respectful and kept his mouth shut and let Arthur think for a while. But his fingers began to drum against the table repeatedly as he watched Arthur.

“Arthur, could you please sit down. You’re making me dizzy.”

Arthur didn’t pay attention.

“Do you want to marry Merlin?” Gwaine blurt out.

That stopped Arthur in his tracks. This was all happening so fast.

“You did come here to find a bride. And while Merlin certainly doesn’t fit the definition of bride, if you’re in love with him then-”

“Then what?” Okay, perhaps he was in love with Merlin. It was easy for him to understand why. He had saved his life. He had been unfailingly kind. He was brave and humble and compassionate. There wasn’t anything so far about Merlin that wasn’t loveable. Even the way he sometimes was stubborn and bossed Arthur around endeared Merlin to Arthur.

Of course nothing could happen between them. Merlin had an idiotic boyfriend and more importantly Merlin was a sorcerer. While he was willing to admit that Merlin was the exception to his father’s rule he still had trouble completely letting go of his pre-conceived notions about magic. And after the disgust Merlin clearly showed when he talked about those who would execute sorcerers, Arthur was sure Merlin would hate his father as much Uther would hate him.

There were too many obstacles. Uther would die before he allowed Arthur to marry a man, and a sorcerer no less.

Arthur threw back his head and covered his face in frustration. “I don’t know what to do.”

Gwaine strode over to him. “You need to quit the job at the clinic.”

Arthur was shocked. “Why would I do that?”

“Because it’s crazy to keep working for someone that you have feelings for that you can’t do anything about. It’s going to be torture. That’s why I thought this job was a bad idea in the first place. And at the time I just thought you wanted to have sex with him, I didn’t know you loved him. As funny as it is to see the prince of Camelot lower himself to do servant’s chores I don’t think this can end well.” Gwaine reasoned.

Arthur sighed. “Perhaps you’re right. I can’t even tell Merlin my real name, how could I expect us to have a future together?”

Gwaine looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“Merlin’s _wanker_ boyfriend Will kept pressuring me to give my last name. I couldn’t tell him it was Pendragon, so I lied and said it was Knight.”

“That’s original.” Gwaine replied drolly.

“Shut up.”

“Why couldn’t you just tell him your real name?”

Arthur put a hand to his forehead and looked at Gwaine as if he’d lost his senses. “Have you not been paying attention to anything? My father likes to relax by executing sorcerers and Merlin just happens to be a sorcerer. What do you think Merlin would do if he found out who my father was?”

Gwaine opened and closed his mouth a few times, but finally shrugged uselessly. “I don’t know. But how would he even find out?”

“Because of that pillock boyfriend of his.” Arthur shouted. “Apparently he knows everything about everything and it’s his job to meddle in other people’s affairs. He’s even been to Mercia. He could find out and tell Merlin.”

“Then all the more reason to quit.” Gwaine said strongly. He looked at Arthur with pity, which Arthur hated.

Arthur groaned. He clasped his hands behind his neck and walked over to the bed and flopped back onto the bed. He gave a long sigh. He should do what Gwaine said. It was the smartest decision. But there was something about his feelings for Merlin that made him stupid.

He rubbed a hand across his face and whispered, “I can’t.”

“What was that?” Gwaine questioned him.

Arthur looked up. “I can’t quit?”

“Why the bloody hell not?”

“Because I’m not ready to say good-bye to Merlin yet. You’re probably right and being around him is going to be difficult, but I want to take the opportunities I can to be with him.” He pressed his fingers to his eyes. “I feel like such a girl.”

Gwaine didn’t correct him. He just smiled sympathetically and gave Arthur a manly pat on the back. “What are you going to do then?”

“I’m...going to enjoy the time that I have here and then I’ll go home and marry Vivian.” Arthur said with sadness.

“You’re giving up?”

“The idea that I would find love in the amount of time I had seemed ludicrous to me. But,” he had a watery grin on his face, “I did it. It’s not going to happen twice. I don’t have any choice.”

“Arthur…” Gwaine took a deep breath. “If I said I was proud of you would you punch me in the face?”

Arthur squinted for a moment. “Yes.” But he smiled at Gwaine.

 

~*~

 

The next day Arthur was very nervous before he saw Merlin again. After they greeted each other, Arthur not being able to make much eye contact, Merlin brandished a toothbrush.

Arthur narrowed his eyes at it. “I did brush my teeth this morning. Are you insinuating I did a bad job? I thought that was the one thing I got right.”

Merlin laughed. “It’s not for brushing your teeth.”

Arthur cocked his head in confusion. “What it’s not?”

Merlin slapped his forehead and shook his head while he laughed harder. “Sorry, I’m getting you confused. You need to use the toothbrush to clean the grout - the small area in between the floor tiles.”

“Oh, more cleaning.” Arthur said without enthusiasm.

Merlin clapped him on the arm. “I’m afraid so.”

 

~*~

If at all possible cleaning the grout was more tedious than the mopping. Arthur was on his hands and knees. He actually cursed the floor’s existence. He suddenly got the feeling he wasn’t alone. He glanced over his shoulder and almost gasped when he saw that Mordred stood there watching him.

“Mordred, you really need to stop sneaking up on me.” He clutched at his chest for a moment.

“Sorry,” Mordred said insincerely. “You were so hard at work that I didn’t want to interrupt you.”

“Please, I could do with an interruption.” Arthur stopped scrubbing. “I just cleaned the floor yesterday. Shouldn’t that be enough for at least...a week?”

Mordred snickered. “Sorry, that’s not how it works.”

“Do you have any tips to make this easier?” Arthur said as he looked around the room and realized he wasn’t even halfway done.

“There is one thing.” Mordred stepped into the room.

Arthur stood up and watched as Mordred’s eyes turned golden. It was back to clear blue a few seconds later. He faced Arthur and smirked.

Arthur walked around the room slowly. The floor was clean and it even smelled better. He chuckled. “I don’t understand why you don’t do this all the time?”

Mordred frowned. “Merlin doesn’t like it. He thinks we should use our magic for more important things.”

Arthur pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Perhaps he has a point. But I wouldn’t be able to stop myself.”

“You’re my kind of man, Arthur.” Mordred said as his eyes traveled up and down Arthur’s body.

Arthur looked down nervously.

Merlin walked into the room and looked around the room. “Wow, Arthur this room looks great.” He sounded impressed.

Arthur didn’t know whether he should be offended that Merlin sounded so surprised or happy that Merlin sounded so proud of him.

“Now you just have to do it for the rest of the rooms.” He grabbed Mordred by the shirt. “But without any magical assistance.”

As Merlin pulled Mordred out of the room, Mordred smiled at Arthur.

Arthur looked at the dingy toothbrush and almost wanted to cry.

 

~*~

“You know Arthur, I don’t know much about you.” Merlin suddenly declared as he walked into the storage room that Arthur was cleaning.

Arthur tried to wipe off the, he was sure, guilty look on his face. “I suppose that’s true.”

“I only know your last name and where you’re from. I’d like to rectify that. Would you like to have lunch with me?”

“Uh…” Arthur did want to spend more time with Merlin, but not if he had to spend the entire time lying to him. “Alright.” He stated, though it sounded like a question.

They walked to a cafe a few minutes away from the clinic. As was becoming customary, Merlin was greeted warmly by everyone.

They sat down at a table and Merlin picked up a menu. Arthur repeated the action but had no idea what he was supposed to order.

“Have you ever had a veggie burger, Arthur?”

Arthur shrugged awkwardly. “I have no idea what that is.”

“It’s a hamburger without meat.” Merlin explained.

Arthur turned up his nose immediately. “Without meat? Why would anyone do that?”

Merlin laughed good-naturedly. “Because it’s healthier and better for the environment.”

“I’m sure you’re right and that’s very important but…” He shuddered. “Without meat?” He repeated.

Merlin laughed. “I take it you’re used to eating meat?”

Arthur nodded. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a meal without it.”

Merlin set his menu down and stared up at Arthur. “It’s your choice. But since you’ve never had one, do you think you could try one. For me?”

Arthur looked into Merlin’s wide eyes and couldn’t say no.

Merlin ordered for the both of them.

“So what brings you Ealdor, Arthur?” Merlin asked without preamble.

Arthur picked up a napkin and began to shred it. He wasn’t about to tell Arthur that he came here to find someone to marry so he decided to go for a partial truth. “I wanted to find out information about my mother.”

Merlin leaned in closer to Arthur. “Here in Ealdor?”

“I just found out from my sister that she was born here and grew up here. Her name was Ygraine Du Bois.”

Merlin mulled over the name. “I’ve never heard that name before. But obviously she was here before my time. From that picture of him she looked about my father’s age. I could ask him about it. He grew up here?”

“You would do that?” Arthur said almost sounding stunned.

“Of course,” Merlin replied easily. “This seems really important to you.”

Arthur swallowed audibly. “It is. I’ve wanted to know about my mother my entire life. It hurts my father to talk about her.”

“It hurts my father to talk about my mother, too. But he tries the best he can.”

“Your mother’s…” Arthur couldn’t finish.

Merlin understood. He nodded. “She died when I was seventeen. Cancer.”

Arthur was grateful that Merlin was willing to share this with him. Arthur bit the inside of his cheek to keep his voice from wavering. “My mother died when I was really young. No one will tell me how it happened. And I don’t really think I want to know. It’s not going to make it easier that she’s gone.”

Merlin put his hand over Arthur’s and stroked his hands gently. “I understand.”

When Arthur looked into Merlin’s eyes he knew that Merlin truly did. His heart swelled. He thought he could actually feel himself falling for Merlin even more.

A stout woman came over and set down their food. Merlin thanked her.

Merlin turned and smiled at Arthur.

Arthur swallowed down the heavy emotions of their conversation and tried to concentrate on eating. He looked down at the burger warily.

Merlin held up his hand. “Now it’s not going to taste the same as meat. But it’s really not bad.”

Arthur picked up the burger. He took a hesitant bite and chewed slowly. It took a little getting used to but Merlin was right. It certainly wasn’t as good as meat, but it wasn’t as terrible as Arthur feared it might be.

“What do you think?” Merlin asked. He looked like he was on the edge of his seat waiting for Arthur’s response.

“It’s not too bad.” Arthur said when he finished chewing.

“I’ll take it.” Merlin grinned.

Arthur couldn’t help looking at Merlin’s goofy grin and feeling incredibly soppy.

Merlin looked up at noticed how Arthur was looking at him. He smiled nervously at Arthur. “What?”

“Nothing,” Arthur sighed. “It’s just irritating how perfect you are.”

He meant it as a compliment but that wasn’t the way he took it. Merlin’s smile fell. “I’m not perfect. Nobody is perfect.”

“I didn’t mean it in a bad way.”

“I know.” Merlin said hotly. “Everyone thinks it’s some great compliment. But they actually expect me to be perfect when I am the farthest thing from perfect.”

Arthur held up his hands in mock surrender. “Why are you getting upset with me?”

Merlin took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m sorry, Arthur. I shouldn’t have taken that out on you. It just gets frustrating when people have such high expectations of me.”

“I understand that. My father puts so much pressure on me I think I will explode. I can’t even figure out who I really am because when my destiny is already set in stone.”

Merlin shook his head. “No one, even your father, has the right to tell you how to live your life. You can change your so-call ‘destiny’”

Arthur nodded slowly and looked down at the table. He wished that were true.

They ate in silence for a few minutes after that. Every once and awhile, Merlin would look up and stare at Arthur. It seemed he wanted to say something, but kept holding back.

The next time it happened, Arthur decided to say something. “If I have something on my face I wish you would just say it. You’re starting to make me anxious, Merlin.”

Merlin chuckled and bit his lip. “I want to ask you something, but if I do I’m afraid that I’ll be overstepping my bounds.”

“Is that your nice way of saying you want to ask me something that’s none of your business?”

“Yes.”

“Just ask, but prepared for me not to answer.” Arthur said truthfully.

“Fair enough.” Merlin exhaled slowly. “Do you have a girlfriend?”

The question took Arthur by surprise. Technically, he did but for him Vivian didn’t count. “No.”

Merlin picked at his sandwich. “Then do you have a...boyfriend? Or any...preferences?” Merlin’s head was so far drawn he was almost nose to nose with his burger.

“Are you asking me or the burger?” Arthur teased.

Merlin almost laughed. “You.” He said quietly.

“And is there a particular reason you’re asking?” Arthur asked with a twinge of hope.

“I wanted to ask you on a date.” Merlin mumbled.

Arthur may not know exactly what a date was but he couldn’t help but smile broadly. “What is a date?”

Merlin scrunched up his nose in thought. “It’s where two people participate in some type of activity - go to the movies, go to a concert, share dinner together, etc. And they talk and get to know each other better.”

“So is that what we’re doing now?” Arthur hesitantly peered up at Merlin.

Merlin let out a nervous exhale. “No. I’m with Will. We’re eating together as friends.”

“But you’re asking me on a date.”

“Not quite.” Merlin added.

Arthur’s confusion increased and he started to get frustrated. “Merlin, what are you asking me?”

“I’m asking for my brother. He wants to go out with you. I’m sure you know he has a crush on you. You’d have to be deaf, dumb, and blind not to notice.” Merlin explained.

“Mordred?” Arthur thought this over. He wasn’t attracted to Mordred in the slightest and didn’t really like the idea of going on a date with Merlin’s brother.

He was about to say no when Merlin interrupted. “If you’re not gay, or you don’t want to tell me because it’s none of my business then that’s alright. But if that’s not it I would really love it if you’d consider it. Mordred may be coming on a bit strong, but he’s a very sweet person and you’re the first boy he’s liked in a long time.”

Arthur turned and looked out the window. He scratched his head roughly as he thought about it.

“But this is all moot if you’re not actually gay.” Merlin’s cheeks reddened and Arthur could tell he didn’t want to come out with it ask him again.

Arthur took pity on him. These were the first time he was going to really say these words and he was glad it was to Merlin. “Yes, I am gay.” Arthur whispered.

Arthur wasn’t sure if Merlin truly knew what a monumental moment for Arthur, but Merlin seemed to beam at him with pride. “Good for you.”

Arthur’s voice was thick with emotion when he spoke. “It feels good to say out loud.” He blushed and took a sip of water. “Now, I don’t really know about going on a date with Mordred.”

“If you’re worried about things being too awkward Will and I could come, too. We’ll make it a double date.” Merlin said innocently.

 _Yes, that would decrease the awkwardness._ Arthur finally looked back at Merlin and exhaled slowly. “This means a lot to you doesn’t it?”

Merlin nodded. He gripped the table and was leaning so far over he and Arthur were almost nose to nose.

“Alright, I’ll do it.” Arthur tried to muster up some enthusiasm.

Merlin shocked Arthur when he leant over fully and kissed him on the cheek. “You won’t regret this.”

Arthur grinned. He was starting to think that might be true.

 

~*~

The date was set for the next day. It was a weekend, Merlin explained, so Arthur wouldn’t have to work. He had left Gwaine watching absolutely filthy things that he didn’t even want any explanation for. They would be viewing a football match, a sporting event, which Arthur was excited by. Even if the date were horrible maybe he’d get the chance to watch something entertaining.

Merlin picked Arthur up at the hotel. Will was in the passenger seat and Mordred was in the back. Mordred smiled widely at Arthur when he spotted him. Will said nothing to Arthur, even as a greeting, which suited Arthur just find. He did glare at him through the rearview mirror from time to time.

The stadium they went to was crowded and it was loud. It reminded Arthur of the atmosphere at tournaments and he loved it immediately. At first, he had trouble understanding the game but both Merlin and Mordred helpfully explained things. Mordred looked annoyed every time Merlin leaned over and talked to Arthur.

At one point, during a pause in play Will turned to Arthur. “I knew I wasn’t wrong about you.”

Arthur’s brow furrowed. “What?”

“I said that you were a posh git and I was right. You’re staying at the Albion. That’s basically the hotel of every ponce that visits Ealdor.”

Merlin glared at Will. “Back off, Will.”

“No.” Will insisted on talking. “Merlin went on about how you were robbed and you had no other options but to let him buy you clothes. If that were the case, how could you afford to stay at such a place?”

“I paid for the hotel before I had my belongings stolen?” Arthur explained. He could tell that Will wasn’t going to let this go. He was like a dog with a bone.

“That still doesn’t explain how you could pay for it when you come from a supposedly small country?” Will’s eyebrows shot up and he stared at Arthur defiantly.

Arthur took a deep breath and tried to think up a good lie. It came surprisingly easy. He was getting so much better at it. He didn’t know if that should frighten him. “The trip was a 21st birthday present from my father.”

“Oh, happy birthday.” Merlin said sweetly.

Both Mordred and Will glared at him.

“Leave him alone Will.” Mordred interjected. “Who cares where he’s staying?” Mordred took hold of Arthur’s hand and brought Arthur closer to him. “Ignore him. This is supposed to be our date.”

Arthur plastered on a phony smile and nodded. “Right.”

“So Arthur what do you do for a living?” Mordred asked. “I assume you’re not a janitor back home.”

“I’m not a janitor now.” Arthur insisted.

“The night we met you said you were warrior. I wasn’t sure if you were exaggerating for the thieves benefit or not? I’m not sure if there’s much money in being a warrior.” Merlin said, his voice was light and he seemed to be teasing Arthur.

“You’d be surprised.” Arthur smiled back.

“But what is your actual job title?” Will said. He watched Merlin out of the corner of his eye as Merlin still looked warmly at Arthur.

“I’m a fighter?” Arthur said more hesitantly than he would have liked.

“You mean like a boxer.” Mordred asked.

“Yes!” Arthur said quickly and with far too much excitement. He had no idea what a boxer was but it seemed to make sense to them.

“I knew it.” Mordred beamed. He caressed Arthur’s bicep. “I knew you had to be an athlete with that body.

Arthur gulped.

Mordred continued to caress his arm and sidled closer to him on his seat.

Merlin and Will resumed watching the game.

Arthur had hoped that Mordred would move his hand, and Mordred did move it all right. His hand started to travel lower and he squeezed Arthur’s thigh. Arthur shot up out of his seat.

“I have to go to the bathroom.” He didn’t wait for any response, but carefully climbed over Mordred and the rest of the people in his aisle. It was awkward and he tripped more than once.

There was a long line for the bathroom. But Arthur didn’t really care. He was glad to put some much needed distance between him and Mordred. Arthur was glad to get to spend some more time with Merlin, even if his wanker boyfriend was there. But Mordred was clearly getting the wrong idea and Arthur needed to figure out a way to let him down gently.

Arthur felt someone clap him on the shoulder. At first he tensed up when he thought it was Mordred. When he looked over, he realized it was worse. He practically growled at the sight of Will and his beady eyes.

Will didn’t say anything at first. Arthur saw that he watched him out of the corner of his eyes. He seemed to be determining what to say which surprised Arthur since Will seemed to just say whatever thought, no matter how inane, whenever it popped into his brain.

“You know I consider myself somewhat of a warrior.” He actually said in all seriousness.

Arthur surreptitiously rolled his eyes. “Really?”

“I’m the last of a dying breed. A warrior for truth and justice.” Will declared.

Arthur pretended to gag. “Sorry. Just choking on some pretentiousness.”

Will narrowed his eyes and sneered. He got up closer to Arthur’s face. If he was trying to be intimidating he was failing miserably. “Why do people find men like you charming?” Arthur looked him up and down. “I just don’t get it.”

“I’m sorry you don’t like me, Will. I did fervently wish that we could be friends.” Arthur said, his voice dripped with sarcasm.

“I’m on to you. Merlin thinks you’re this sad, pathetic simpleton who needs his help. Well, he’s got the pathetic part right. I know that you’re lying, Arthur _Knight_. And I’m going to find out what you’re lying about. I’m not going to let you hurt, Merlin.”

That wiped the smirk off Arthur’s face. “I would never hurt Merlin.”

Will rolled his eyes. “I don’t trust you. Merlin has been taken advantage of by guys like you before. I’m not going to let it happen again.”

Arthur’s fists clenched by his sides. “What happened to Merlin?”

“That’s none of your concern. _I_ am Merlin’s boyfriend and I will protect him, from you or anyone else.” Will poked him in the chest with his finger. “I promise you that.” Will smiled sardonically and stalked away.

Arthur put his head in his hands and felt others in line walk around him. Will didn’t really scare him. But there was a big part of him that he realized he shouldn’t underestimate him. He wondered if it might be time to tell Merlin the truth.

 

~*~

Arthur wasn’t able to really get into the football match after he came back from the restroom. He spent the rest of the evening dodging Mordred’s wandering hands and trying not to look at Will, which unfortunately meant ignoring Merlin. When he got back to the hotel, Gwaine asked him how things went but Arthur was too tired to respond.

The next day Arthur didn’t fortunately didn’t have to spend any time cleaning the floor. Merlin had him organize the storage room and later help Merlin with inventory. It meant spending a lot of time with Merlin in a cramped room, which Arthur didn’t complain about.

As Merlin counted how many boxes of tongue depressors the clinic had, Merlin looked up at Arthur. “I feel like this is becoming a regular things, but I really have to apologize for Will’s behavior last night. He really has trouble leaving the job behind most days.”

“It’s not your fault that your boyfriend’s a wanker.” Arthur stated bluntly.

“I understand why you’d think he was a wanker.” Merlin acquiesced. “He really isn’t normally like that. He just seems to have a problem with you.”

“It’s almost like he’s jealous.” Arthur tried to make it seem like an off-hand remark, but he eyed Merlin and his response carefully.

Merlin paused but didn’t look up from his clipboard. “He has nothing to be jealous of.” Merlin said firmly.

Merlin moved around Arthur to get to the other side of the room so he could start counting the plasters.

Arthur rubbed his forehead and watched Merlin. He finally couldn’t take it anymore. He had to ask what had been on his mind for a while. He set aside his clipboard. “Alright, I have to ask. Why are you with Will?”

“Just say what’s on your mind, Arthur.” Merlin countered dryly.

“I’m sorry. I just have to know. He thinks he’s funny, but he’s not. He actually referred to himself as a warrior for truth and justice.” Merlin giggled at that. “He’s rude and constantly looks like he wants to pick a fight. So...why?”

Merlin licked his lips and contemplated his response. “We’ve been together since I was fourteen.”

Arthur waited for him to go on. He wasn’t sure if Merlin actually thought that was an adequate response.

“So you’re still with him because he’s, what, familiar?” Arthur shrugged.

“No.” Merlin said defensively. “Despite how he is with you, Will really is a good person and he’s been by my side through a lot. He was there for me when my mother died and when…” Merlin trailed off.

He got a faraway look in his eyes. Arthur remembered Merlin having a similar look after Daegal came into the clinic. Arthur was really worried that something horrible had happened to Merlin especially after what Will had insinuated at the football match.

Arthur took a tentative step towards Merlin. “Merlin, I hope you know that I consider you to be a friend.”

Merlin’s eyes snapped up and he gazed at Arthur intently. “I know. I consider you a friend, too.”

“You can trust me.” Arthur winced inwardly and tried to ignore the hypocrisy of that statement. “You can tell me anything.” Arthur said gently.

Merlin’s eyes seemed impossibly large and he looked at Arthur with such trust. Once again, Arthur thought about honoring that trust and telling Merlin the truth about himself. But now wasn’t the time.

Merlin pursed his lips and set aside the clipboard slowly. He leaned back against a stack of boxes. “I told you that my mother died when I was seventeen. After that happened I couldn’t really handle being in Ealdor anymore. So I left to go to university away from here. It wasn’t that far from here in Essetir. I was devastated, but I tried to hide it and I was so desperate to make friends and luckily I quickly made one. His name was Cenred.”

Merlin looked like he wanted to throw up just saying that name. He swallowed thickly and continued.

“I had never hidden my magic and I didn’t see any reason to. Cenred was great at first. He was very accepting of my magic and defended me against anyone who tried to bully me. But soon enough he tried to get me to do things with my magic that I didn’t want to. It was mostly small things at first. I helped him cheat on tests. I used my magic so we could get alcohol. I helped him win at football games. But soon it wasn’t enough for him and then things escalated. He wanted me to help him steal something from his sister Morgause. He said she had magic and I was the only one who could help him. I just couldn’t do it.” Merlin paused.

Arthur’s fingers dug so hard into his palms he was sure they must be bleeding. He hadn’t heard the full story yet, but he knew, especially from the way Merlin’s breathing became labored, that it was going to get bad. He wanted to find this Cenred and kill him.

“After that he turned on me. At first he just had his friends call me names and he tried to turn everyone in school against me. But one day, he called me and he said that he wanted to apologize for how he had acted and he wanted to be friends again. He lured me to his house. I had barely left my car before I was accosted by him and three of his friends.

They jumped me and dragged me to his backyard. He had this huge beautiful tree back there. On one of the branches there was a large rope hanging from it.” Merlin’s voice broke and he bit down on his lip.

Arthur closed his eyes. He felt sick to his stomach. He didn’t want to, but he had a clear picture of *it in his head. He’d seen more than enough hangings.

“Now you wouldn’t know it to look at it, but that branch was really strong. The rope was short, and that was on purpose. He didn’t want to kill me. He wanted to torture me. I tried to use my magic, but he somehow found a way to block my magic. They didn’t just hang me. They beat me. Every time they hit me they hit me, they would call me a freak. Before I lost consciousness Cenred whispered in my ear that I was an abomination and that my magic would kill me one day.” Merlin sighed. “But he was wrong. It took me a really long time to see that.”

Without even pausing to think about it, Arthur wrapped Merlin up in a tight embrace. Merlin hesitated for a second before he melted into the hug. He didn’t shed any tears but he buried his nose in the crook of Arthur’s neck.

Arthur wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that. But soon enough Merlin pulled back and he looked up at Arthur with watery eyes. “One of the reasons I’m telling you this is so you understand why Will is so important to me. I almost died that day. My father came and took me home and he, my brother, and Will never left my side. Will never blamed me for leaving. He never blamed me for what happened. The only person he blamed was himself. He couldn’t get over not being there to protect me. _That_ is the real Will. He’s not a wanker...alright maybe he is some of the time. But there’s a lot more to him than that. Please don’t judge him.”

Arthur nodded stiffly. He would agree to anything Merlin wanted at this point.

Merlin took a step back. He took a deep breath and tried to compose himself.

Arthur couldn’t get the image of Merlin hanging from his mind. He turned to Merlin. “Please tell me that Cenred is dead.”

Merlin grimaced. “Sorry, he’s very much alive. But he’s in jail. Trust me, my father and Will wanted to kill him. But I didn’t want that. I just wanted to make sure that he would never be able to hurt someone else or persecute someone for having magic. I just wish I could do that for everyone like him.”

Arthur felt like he had been punched in the stomach. He didn’t even know how to respond.

Merlin sighed in unhappily as he looked around the room. “Do you think you could finish this up yourself, Arthur?” He gestured vaguely to the room.

“Yes.” Arthur’s voice sounded unnatural to him. His tongue felt thick and heavy in his mouth and he felt like he wanted to throw up. For once, being around Merlin was the last thing he wanted.

 

~*~

Arthur went home alone. In a way he was glad to not have to deal with Gwaine’s chatter. But he could use Gwaine’s chatter at the moment to block the thoughts in his head.

What Merlin had lived through was so horrifying. For once Arthur empathized with Will. He would have gone crazy if that he had been Merlin’s boyfriend when that happened to him. He was going crazy now and it had happened years ago. He truly understood Will’s desire to protect Merlin. If they both knew the things that Arthur had done…

The door to their room slammed shut and Gwaine trudged in.

He groaned.

Arthur was startled when he felt the other side of the bed shift under Gwaine’s weight. Arthur looked at him out of the corner of his eye.

“I know, I know - it’s your bed. I just need a minute.” Gwaine declared. He looked up at the ceiling. “I honestly think numbers are the worst thing to ever be created. What purpose do they really serve? And why in God’s name am I suddenly an accountant.” He pouted. “This vacation is not turning out like I’d hoped. I was supposed to be up to my neck in women, nut numbers.”

Arthur rose up slowly. He looked over at Gwaine and a second later had pushed him off the bed. There was a loud thump, Gwaine shrieked, and then he stuck his head over the side of the bed and glared at Arthur. “What the hell was that for?”

“Some people have real problems in this world, Gwaine.” Arthur hissed.

Gwaine stood up slowly and rounded on Arthur. “Oh, I’m sorry is the poor prince still confused about how to use a _mop_.”

Arthur was filled with rage and if Gwaine didn’t shut up Arthur would take it out on him. Arthur honestly didn’t know if he wanted to scream or cry. He marched over to the desk and banged his fist against it several times. His knuckles were bloody but he didn’t care. He sat down hard on the ground.

Gwaine walked toward him stiffly and sat next to him. “Arthur, what is going on?”

Arthur turned his gaze to Gwaine.

Gwaine’s eyes widened. “Arthur, are you...crying?”

Arthur wasn’t even going to try and deny it. He just whimpered and looked down at his hands. “I have never hated myself so much in my entire life.”

Gwaine frowned. He put a sympathetic hand on Arthur’s knee. “I know you feel bad for lying to Merlin, but you have your reasons.”

Arthur hung his head and whispered brokenly, “It’s not about that. I mean, not entirely and I can’t really tell you what happened because it’s something very personal to Merlin. But I can say that I see how...disgusting what my father has done. I’ve always had my reservations about the hangings, but I believed that he was doing what he felt was right and that sorcerers were evil. But Merlin isn’t. Daegal isn’t. I’ve been wrong this entire time and I just let my father murder innocent people.

Gwaine searched for something to say. “Arthur, you’re not to blame. I’m not excusing what your father does, but not all of the people he’s executed have been innocent. Some of them truly are criminals.”

“And the rest?” Arthur asked simply.

Gwaine scrubbed a hand across his face. “If you’re guilty Arthur, then so am I, and so is the rest of Camelot. None of us have stood up to your father or said anything.”

“But none of you are his son. My father rarely listens to me, but if anyone had hope of convincing him to see sense, it was me. But I was too afraid.” He thumped his head against the wall. “After everything Merlin has been through, everything my father has done to his people, how could Merlin ever forgive me?”

Gwaine shrugged helplessly. “I wish I knew what to tell you Arthur. I really do.”

Arthur stared at Gwaine and nodded sadly. He wiped his eyes roughly. “I suppose it doesn’t really matter. Merlin and I will never be together.”

 

~*~

Over the next two weeks, Arthur got as proficient at his job at the clinic as he had been in his duties at Camelot. He did his best to avoid Mordred, which wasn’t easy since Mordred spent more and more time at the clinic. Will also made his presence known there. He and Arthur didn’t say much to each other, but after what Merlin told him, Arthur tried to be as nice to Will as possible.

Despite his tremendous guilt, Merlin and Arthur also grew closer. Merlin was true to his word and tried to help Arthur find out information about his mother. According to Merlin, his father didn’t seem to recognize Arthur’s mother’s name. Merlin took Arthur to the local library and they looked over the town records. To Arthur’s relief he was able to find a couple of pictures of his mother when she was younger. She was just as beautiful as she then as she was in the picture Morgana had given him.

Arthur also learned about Ygraine’s family. She had two brothers, Agravaine and Tristan, and they were apparently dead. Arthur even got to visit the Du Bois family home. Though it was horribly run down now and nobody lived there. While it wasn’t everything he wanted to know, at least it was something.

While they traveled together and researched Arthur’s family history, Merlin told him about The Druid Society, the group he founded after he returned to Ealdor. They were responsible for the meeting of the young sorcerers that happened every week. They were going to be having a small get together at Merlin’s house and he invited Arthur and Gwaine. Arthur was excited to have a chance to visit Merlin’s home.

Arthur bounced up and down on the balls of his feet as they waited at the front door. Gwaine looked over at Arthur and smirked.

“I don’t know what you find so amusing.” Arthur stated, as he tried to keep still.

“Your crush is so cute.”

Arthur rolled his eyes. He was about to tell Gwaine to stuff it, when the front door opened. They were greeted by Balinor. “Come in.” He said gruffly.

“I think that man is really starting to like you.” Gwaine said as they walked into the house.

Arthur didn’t say anything, but as he walked in front of Gwaine, he elbowed him in his stomach.

It was a nice, but modest home. There was a fairly spacious living room, with a brown sofa and matching armchair. There was a fireplace with lots of pictures above the mantle. Arthur grinned when he picked one up with a young Merlin, whose ears overshadowed him even more when he was younger. He looked to be about eight in the photo. He was wearing an adorable suit and holding hands with a toddler with black hair. Arthur assumed that was Mordred.

Soon Arthur looked over and spotted Mordred standing next to him. Someone really needed to put a bell around that boy’s neck.

Mordred looked nice. His hair was slicked back and he wore a black button down shirt and tan trousers. Mordred didn’t say anything but grinned at him.

Arthur smiled back. He pointed to the picture. “Is that you?”

Mordred nodded. “Yes, I was only one. Merlin was eight. It was Merlin’s first suit. Our mum was talking us to church.” Mordred’s eyes clouded over when he mentioned his mother.

“Merlin told me about how your mother died. I’m sorry.” Arthur said sincerely.

“Thank you.” Mordred bit his lip and shuffled nervously from foot to foot. “I was thinking about where we could go on a second date. I really enjoyed the footie match and you seemed to as well. I thought-”

Arthur closed his eyes. He really had hoped he was off the hook and Mordred had taken the hint. There was a sliding door that led to a patio outside behind them. Arthur took Mordred’s hand and led him outside. As soon as they got outside, Mordred pinned Arthur up against an outside wall. He tried to kiss Arthur, but Arthur’s reflexes were still good and he managed to deftly avoid it while he extricated himself from between Mordred’s arms.

Arthur held up his hands. “I’m sorry I can’t do this.”

Mordred swallowed. He looked a little red in the face. “You’re right. You’re right. It’s not appropriate with people here.”

Arthur shook his head slowly and said regretfully, “That’s not what I meant.” He tried to think of what to say. He had never rejected someone before. “Mordred…you are...a really nice…”

Mordred looked crestfallen at Arthur’s choice of words.

“I mean you’re nice and cute and sweet-”

Mordred cut him off. “You don’t want to date me, right?”

Arthur worried his lip but eventually nodded.

“You want to date Merlin.”

Arthur’s eyes widened. “I never said that.”

“You didn’t have to. I see the way you look at him.”

Arthur gulped nervously. Apparently he wasn’t as subtle as he thought.

Mordred stepped into Arthur’s personal space. “It’s never going to happen.” His voice was hard but he didn’t say it with malice.

Arthur fidgeted and hugged his arms to his chest. “Why do you say that?”

“He’s never going to leave Will. If you know Merlin, you know that he’s loyal. Despite what he might feel for you, he would never do that to Will.”

Arthur’s ears perked up at what Mordred said about Merlin’s feelings. “Did Merlin say he feels something for me?”

Mordred rolled his eyes and walked away.

Arthur slapped his forehead. He probably could have been a little more tactful there.

He took his time before he headed inside. Not trying to be obvious, he made his way through the smattering of gathered guests and looked for the host. He found him in a hall just outside the kitchen. He and Will had their heads together and seemed to be having a very animated conversation.

“How could you do that, Will? I asked you to leave it alone.” Merlin said in a strained whisper.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do that. I looked up Arthur Knight from Mercia and I couldn’t find anyone with that name.”

Merlin shrugged. “So what? That doesn’t mean anything. Perhaps he’s not in any system for you to find. He could still exist. What am I saying, he does exist.”

“I’m not so sure.” Will persisted.

Merlin groaned. “Why don’t you like him?”

“Because he’s hiding something, Merlin. I know people and I especially know idiots like him.”

“Is it a takes one to know one sort of thing?” Merlin teased him.

“Ha bloody ha!” Will retorted. “You know I did find something interesting. Have you ever heard of Camelot?”

Arthur had to grab hold of the wall as his knees buckled.

“It sounds kind of familiar. Why?” Merlin asks with a hint of curiosity.

“I’m sure you’ve heard of Uther Pendragon.” Will said confidently.

“Yes, I’ve heard of that tyrant.” Merlin gritted out.

“Apparently, he has a son named Arthur. Now I can’t find a picture because Uther is a nutter and won’t allow any modern technology within Camelot.” Will rubbed his hands together. “Don’t you see what this could mean?”

Arthur thought the room began to spin. Could he really have put it together already?

Merlin looked at Will askance. “That he has a son named Arthur and it’s a big coincidence?”

“I don’t believe in coincidences.” Will insisted.

Merlin rolled his eyes. “Right, Will because Arthur is such an uncommon name.” Will started to speak up. But Merlin waved his hands in front of his face. “I don’t have time to deal with your paranoia tonight, Will. I have to talk to a roomful of people and you know how I feel about that. Thanks for relaxing me.” Merlin stalked off.

Arthur rushed to hide. He opened the refrigerator and stuck his head inside. Both Will and Merlin walked by him and didn’t notice him.

A few minutes later, Arthur’s heart rate finally calmed down enough and he found Merlin talking to an excitable blond girl. She smiled, kissed Merlin on the cheek, and walked away just as Arthur got there.

Merlin smiled broadly at Arthur. “That was the constable’s daughter Elena. She’s really sweet.”

Arthur nodded.

He noticed that Merlin wiped his hands against his black trousers.

“Are you ok?”

Merlin shook his head but then quickly nodded. “Yeah. The club members want me to say something and I’m never good at public speaking.”

“I wish I could help.” Arthur said sincerely. Arthur had to deliver some speeches before and they usually went well. But he didn’t know what to say to help Merlin.

“You being here helps?” Merlin scrutinized Arthur.

Arthur was wearing a red button down shirt and black trousers and fancy black shoes. They’d managed to get word to Morgana and she had sent them some more money.

Merlin grinned. “You clean up really well. I think red is your color.”

“I’ve been told that before.” Arthur said honestly.

Merlin laughed. “I bet you have.”

They both chuckled. Their chuckles trailed off and they stared at each other for a long moment.

Merlin shook his head. “I should probably make my speech now. Wish me luck.”

Arthur squeezed Merlin’s hand. “Good luck.”

As Merlin walked away, Arthur turned and saw Will staring daggers at him.

Merlin walked over to the mantle and whistled to get everyone’s attention. The overlapping conversations died down and everyone turned to look at Merlin. His smile was unnaturally wide and he coughed nervously. “I just wanted to say a few things.”

Before he could say anything else, Will suddenly ran up to him.

“I’m sorry for interrupting, love but I wanted to say something.” Will started.

Merlin looked at him with a bit of trepidation, but he gestured for him to go on.

“There’s something I’ve wanted to do for a really long time and when I look around the room and see so many people that we love, it seems like the perfect moment.” Will declared.

Merlin swallowed hard and stole furtive looks out into the gathered people. It looked like he wanted someone to rescue him.

Will got down on one knee. There were some gasps throughout the crowd. “Merlin Emrys, I don’t think I could ever love someone as much as I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”

Arthur and Merlin’s eyes were both as huge as saucers. Merlin looked paralyzed with fear.

Arthur was gobsmacked and his hand slowly covered his mouth. He looked over and saw that Balinor actually smiled. Arthur hadn’t thought he was capable of that.

Merlin looked from Will and to his family and back to Will again. He opened his mouth but closed it and ran off through the glass door to the outside and didn’t look back.

Arthur couldn’t help feeling immensely relieved, while he also felt some sympathy for a shocked and devastated Will. Arthur worried about Merlin and wondered where he would go.

~*~

After Merlin’s awkward exit, people were clearly not in a party mood. Arthur and Gwaine were the first to leave as they made a quick exit and said good-bye to no one.

When they got to the hotel, Arthur slowly walked to the couch and sank down. Gwaine got himself a drink and offered Arthur one. Arthur took it and gulped it down gratefully.

“That poor bugger.” Gwaine finally said.

“Merlin or Will?” Arthur asked.

“Will. I couldn’t imagine being humiliated like that.” Gwaine shook his head and took another swig of his drink.

“It wasn’t Merlin’s intention to humiliate Will. He was overwhelmed.” Arthur defended Merlin.

“I’m not saying that Merlin is a bad person. But I just think Will got it a lot worse.” Gwaine sighed. “Where do you think Merlin is?”

Arthur threw out his hands. “I don’t know. I hope he’s with someone who understands.”

“Everyone loves Merlin in this town. I’m sure he’ll find someone.” Gwaine said with the utmost confidence.

They heard a knock at the door and looked at each other. “Who is that?”

Gwaine shrugged.

They both got up and walked to the door. Arthur opened it. He gasped when he saw a teary-eyed Merlin. His eyes were red and he had his hands stuffed into his pockets. His whole posture was one of a defeated man.

“Merlin?” Arthur exclaimed.

“May I come in?” Merlin choked out.

“Of course.” Arthur quickly stepped aside and let Merlin in.

Gwaine gave Merlin a small sympathetic smile and nod.

Merlin couldn’t make eye contact.

Gwaine pursed his lips and tried to avoid staring at Merlin. He bounced slightly up and down. Soon he pointed to the door. “I’m going to go downstairs and talk to Freya. I’ll see how tongue-tied I can make her.” As he passed Merlin by, Gwaine patted Merlin on the shoulder. “I hope things work out...” He looked over Merlin’s head to Arthur. “However they’re supposed to.” He closed the door softly behind him.

“Would you like to sit?” Arthur asked gently.

Merlin hugged his arms to his chest and tears still ran down his face. He just nodded. Merlin followed Arthur to the couch in the middle of the room. His legs wobbled as he sits down. Arthur got a bottle of water from the mini-fridge and hands it to Merlin. Merlin’s hands trembled

Arthur gingerly sat down next to him. He licked his lips and cautiously closed the distance between them and put his arms around Merlin.

Merlin took in a shuddery breath and wiped at his tears. “I’m a horrible person.”

“No, you’re not.” Arthur stated emphatically.

“How could I do that to Will? I don’t…” He shook his head.

Arthur’s heart broke for Merlin as he sobbed.

After Merlin pulled himself together, he laid his head on Arthur’s shoulder and took a few deep breaths.

“I’m glad you’re here, Merlin.” Arthur began tentatively. “But why come to me?”

Merlin sighed heavily. “I just wanted to be somewhere I didn’t think anyone would find me. And,” he twisted his head to look up at Arthur, “I trust you. You’re a good listener.”

Arthur gave him a shaky grin. “I think that’s the first time anyone has said that about me.”

Merlin tried to smile but it was a half-hearted effort and he just grimaced.

“I have to ask - why did you run out of there when Will proposed?” Arthur asked gently.

Merlin sucked in a breath. “I just panicked. I felt like the room was spinning and I couldn’t breathe.” He picked his head up and stared straight ahead. “Will and I have talked about marriage. But I was always hesitant. I don’t know why but the idea of being married terrifies me. Will knew that and he knows that I don’t like public spectacles. But he didn’t listen. It’s starting to become a pattern that he just doesn’t listen anymore.” He sighed. “I could have said no, but my mind just went blank. No, not blank. I did have one word in my head - run. So I did.”

Merlin shook his head and Arthur carefully removed his hand from his shoulder and took a deep nervous before he threaded his fingers through Merlin’s hair. He was relieved when, instead of batting his hand away, Merlin closed his eyes and relaxed into his touch.

“Merlin?”

Merlin’s eyes fluttered open. “Yes?”

“Did you not answer Will because just because you were scared or…” Arthur swallowed audibly. “When I asked you before why you were with Will. You said that you were with him for a long time and he had been there for you through tough times. But, not once, did you say you loved him.” Arthur worried his bottom lip. “Do you love him?”

Merlin looked deep into Arthur’s eyes and blinked several times. “Yes, I love him. But…”

They were interrupted by a loud knock at the door.

“Merlin!!”

“Will?” Merlin’s eyes bulged and he shot up off the couch.

Arthur and Merlin shared a confused glance.

There was another bang at the door. “Freya told me that you’re here!”

Arthur looked at Merlin and they had a wordless conversation. Arthur raised his eyebrows and Merlin nodded.

Arthur took a deep breath before he trudged towards the door. He opened it and had no time to even blink before Will hauled off and punched him. Arthur fell on his arse.

“Will!” Merlin shrieked and rushed towards Arthur. He fell to his knees in front of Arthur.

Arthur gingerly touched his eye.

Will pointed down to Arthur. “This is all your fault!”

Merlin whipped his head up. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t you see, Merlin? You never had any doubts about us until he came along. I know that he hates me. Has he been filling your head with rubbish about me?” Will hissed.

Merlin stood up and took a step towards Will. “Will, yes he doesn’t like you. But you don’t like him. Whatever issues are between the two of you are not mine. And do you really think I’m so easily swayed that Arthur could say something that could change my feelings about you?”

Will’s nostrils flared and he looked from Arthur to Merlin. His shoulders sank and his anger seemed to dissipate slightly. “Then why did you do it, Merlin?” He said softly.

Merlin bowed his head and his lip trembled. “I’m so sorry, Will. I got so scared. I didn’t mean to-”

“Humiliate me? Break my heart?” Will screeched with genuine sorrow and anger. “Because that’s what you did. How could you do that to me?”

“I…” Merlin’s voice cracked and he twisted his hands.

“Is it because of him?” Will nodded toward Arthur, who finally stood up.

“Will, I told you-”

“Do you have feelings for Arthur, Merlin?” Will said slowly. “Is that why you’re suddenly having doubts?”

Merlin shook his head. “Will, my doubts aren’t sudden. They started long before I ever met Arthur.”

Will looked stunned. “Then why didn’t you talk to me?”

“Because you never listen anymore, Will! Merlin shouted.

Arthur really wanted to be there for Merlin but he didn’t think he should be here for this conversation. “I think I should go.” He began to walk towards the front door, but Will blocked his path.

“No. You’re not going anywhere. You decided to insert yourself into our relationship so you’re going to stay here until we figure this out. Because,” he swallowed audibly, “either you want to marry me Merlin or this is over.”

Merlin gasped. He looked as if he had the wind knocked out of him. “You can’t mean that, Will.”

A tear fell down Will’s cheek and he wiped at it roughly. “Yes, I do. If you love me, then there is no reason for you not to want to spend the rest of your life with me.”

Merlin slowly covered his mouth and choked back a sob.

“Do you want to marry me? Do you love me?” Will tried to look stoic, but Arthur could see his hands shook.

Merlin uncovered his mouth, but it took him a few tries to speak. “I love you, Will. But I don’t think I’m in love with you anymore. So I can’t marry you.”

Will’s face crumpled, but he quickly took a gulp of air and nodded slowly.

Merlin took a step toward him but Will held his hand up to stop him. He reached the door and stopped in the middle of the doorway. He turned his watery eyes to Arthur and he looked like he wanted to eviscerate him. “If you think this is over, you’re wrong. You’re going to pay for this. I’m going to make sure of that.” He angrily twisted around and slammed the door.

Arthur could still feel the reverberations of it as he watched Merlin.

Merlin’s breath hitched several times and fat tears streamed down his face.

Arthur put his arms around him and Merlin turned in his arms and buried his face in his neck. He held onto Arthur for dear life.

 

~*~

Merlin let Arthur comfort him for a few minutes, but he abruptly pulled himself out of Arthur’s arms and declared that he needed to be alone. Arthur tried to convince him to stay but Merlin wouldn’t listen. He thanked Arthur but left hurriedly.

Arthur didn’t sleep the whole night as he worried about Merlin. There was a part of Arthur that rejoiced over Merlin and Will’s break-up. But it was a small part. Arthur couldn’t forget the look on Merlin’s face or the sound of Merlin’s sobs. He didn’t feel happy that Merlin was in pain. Selfishly, it also made him think about what Merlin’s reaction would be if Arthur told him who he really was.

When Merlin showed up for work the next day, Arthur was a bit surprised. Merlin didn’t say much. He mostly walked around like a zombie. He worked at his desk and Arthur kept his distance.

Balinor didn’t show up all morning. When he finally showed up in the afternoon, his eyes found Arthur’s and Arthur was scared at the fury within. Normally, Balinor looked at him with distaste but that was nothing compared to how he was looking at him now.

“In my office now, boy!” He roared as he passed him by.

Arthur shared a look of puzzlement with Merlin. Arthur strode over to Balinor’s office.

“Shut the door!” Balinor yelled.

Arthur did as he was told.

“I have tolerated your presence because it was what Merlin wanted. But after what you’ve done, I don’t want you here any longer. You’re fired!”

“Fired?” Arthur balked. “I don’t understand what you think I did.”

Balinor advanced on Arthur. “I’ve seen the way you are around Merlin. I’ve seen him change. He never would have done what he did last night if it weren’t for your influence. You are not going to ruin his life, do you understand me. I am not going to let someone take advantage of him again.”

Arthur squared his shoulder. “I would never hurt Merlin. I care about him. He’s my friend.”

Balinor fisted his hand in Arthur’s shirt and pushed him against the wall and he shouted. “People like you don’t have friends! I know your kind. You are just as selfish as your mother was!”

Arthur gasped.

Merlin flew through the door. His eyes widened when he saw Balinor and Arthur. “Father, what are you doing?”

Balinor glowered at Arthur. He only spared Merlin a brief glance. “This doesn’t concern you, Merlin.”

Arthur just stared at Balinor open-mouthed.

“I know how you think dad. You can’t blame Arthur for what happened between me and Will.” Merlin said. He eyed Arthur and seemed to notice Arthur’s paleness. “Arthur, are you alright?”

Arthur slowly looked between Balinor and Merlin. His gaze landed back on Balinor. “You knew my mother?” Arthur whispered.

Merlin wrinkled his brow in confusion. “No. I asked him about your mother and he said he didn’t know her. Right, father?”

Balinor looked down. He slowly backed away from Arthur.

Merlin’s mouth went slack and his lips formed a silent O.

“Why would you lie?” Arthur blinked. His shock began to subside and was replaced with righteous anger.

“I’ve spent a long time forgetting that I ever knew your mother. I wasn’t about to relive my time with her to help you.” Balinor sneered. He took a seat behind his desk.

“But I told you how important this was to Arthur.” Merlin cried. “How could you look me in the eye and lie to me.” Suddenly, Merlin’s face crumpled in disgust. “Oh, my God! Please, _please_ tell me Arthur isn’t my brother!”

Arthur’s eyes widened. That horrifying thought had never occurred to him. He couldn’t imagine that Uther wasn’t his father and if he was actually related to Merlin he might hurl himself from the tallest building.”

“No!” Balinor said forcefully. “It was never like that with her. The only woman ever for me was your mother.”

Merlin clutched his chest and sighed with relief.

Arthur blew out a breath in relief as well. But his anger returned and he stalked towards Balinor. “Then how did you know her?”

“At one time, I thought she was a friend - my best friend actually. We grew up together. She was beautiful and smart and gentle. I thought she was wonderful.” Balinor said with the ghost of a smile on his face and a fond memory in his mind.

“Then why does it sound like you hate her?” Arthur asked. Part of him didn’t want to know the answer.

“Because she was a coward.” Balinor said venomously.

Arthur looked like he had been slapped in the face by Balinor’s words.

“Father! Why don’t you show a little respect? This is Arthur’s mother you’re talking about.” Merlin said fiercely.

“You don’t know what she did, or I guess didn’t do is more accurate.” Balinor cryptically replied. “I haven’t spoken of this often, Merlin but when I was a teenager there was a period of time in Ealdor that wasn’t as peaceful as it is now. Sorcerers were really just starting to admit the gifts that they had and a lot of people didn’t take it so well. Things were combative for a long time and there were many who were persecuted for having magic.” He sighed deeply. “I and many others chose to fight. But there were others,” Balinor turned up his nose, “who chose to flee. Your mother was one of them.”

Arthur scratched his forehead. “I don’t understand. Why would my mother flee? She didn’t have magic.”

It was Balinor’s turn to look at Arthur in confusion. “Yes, she did.”

Arthur stumbled backwards. He didn’t feel Merlin steady him from behind. This couldn’t be possible. His mother couldn’t have had magic. His father hated magic. How could he hate magic if his mother was a witch?

“I can see whoever your father was didn’t tell you about that. It doesn’t surprise me that Ygraine found married someone who could be so deceitful.”

Merlin laughed mirthlessly. “From where I’m standing Father you have no business judging someone for their lies.”

Balinor lowered his head and looked as if Merlin’s words hit their mark. “I’m sorry I lied, son. When Ygraine renounced her magic and left it broke my heart. She never looked and I determined to forget her. She was dead to me.”

Arthur clapped sardonically. “Congratulations, you got your wish! But not before she left behind a son who has been deceived his entire life!” Arthur bellowed. He ran both hands through his hair. “You don’t want me to work here anymore, that’s just fine. I’d prefer not to see you again anyway. As far as I’m concerned you and my father can go straight to hell.” he stormed out of the room.

 

~*~

Arthur walked back home powered by the rage he felt. He walked unseeing. The only thing that he could focus on was the thoughts in his head. He never knew his mother and it turned out that he never knew his father either.

He stormed into his room and slammed the door. He barely heard the door when it opened. He was startled when Gwaine’s face came into his line of sight.

“What are you doing here?” He asked heatedly.

“The only reason I was working at the clinic was because of you. I’m not going to stay there now.” Gwaine explained.

Arthur began to pace. “Did you hear what happened?”

“Mordred and I did our best to eavesdrop. We heard most of it.” Gwaine said softly. He looked like he was almost in as much shock as Arthur. “Your mother had magic.”

“All of my life, my father has told me that magic is a curse and sorcerers are evil. And it turns out that my mother was a sorcerer!” Arthur threw up his hands and laughed. “What a hypocrite and a liar. And I have been stupidly following his words.” He stopped pacing and held his head in his hands. “I almost gave up someone that I love because they had magic.” Arthur said as he peered up at Gwaine. “I’m a fool.”

Arthur ran a hand down his face. “And one of the worst things is that I don’t even know if I can be so mad at my dad. I’m just as big a hypocrite as him, since I’m lying to Merlin.”

Gwaine looked blankly at Arthur. He obviously didn’t know what to say.

There was a knock on the door. Gwaine went to get it. Arthur wasn’t completely surprised to see Merlin walk in. Gwaine discreetly left to give them some privacy.

Merlin stepped towards him and he handed him something. “My father isn’t completely heartless.”

It was a tattered old picture of a young Balinor and Ygraine. Balinor was laughing and had his arm around Ygraine. She had a beautiful, serene smile on her face as she looked at him. Arthur sniffled as he gazed at his mother visage. He sighed and handed it back to Merlin. “I guess he kept this for a reason.”

Merlin took the picture back. “I talked to him. My father can be a very stubborn man. Your mother’s leaving really devastated him. But I can tell that he still really cherished the friendship that they had.”

Merlin pulled something else out of his pocket. It was an ornately designed large round black pendant with a bird at the center of it. It was beautiful. “He said it was your mother’s sigil.” He smiled at Arthur. “You can keep that.”

Arthur studied it closely. “Is that a Merlin?”

Merlin tilted his head and stared at it, a slow grin formed on his face. “It looks like it could be.”

They looked up and shared a soft chuckle. Arthur caressed the sigil. “I think that’s perfect.”

Merlin blushed and coughed as he looked away.

The grin slowly fell from Arthur’s face and he sighed. He walked over to his bed and sat down. “I’m mad at your father for lying. But I can’t say that I don’t understand why what my mother did upset him.”

Merlin nodded. “But that doesn’t mean that she was a horrible person. She was probably just really scared.”

Arthur smiled tenderly at Merlin. His mere presence there calmed Arthur down and he felt as if he could truly make sense of things.

Merlin frowned. “I still hate that my father lied to me. He knows that is something I have trouble with. Everyone lies, even I do, but to lie about something so important and to my face like that...I swear if I didn’t love him so much it would take me a really long time to forgive him.”

Arthur winced and looked away.

Merlin put his hand on Arthur’s shoulder. “Are you alright?”

“I was just thinking about my father and all of the lies that he’s told me. If I had known my mother had magic...so many things could have been different.” He shook his head sadly.

“I assume he just wanted to protect you.” Merlin offered a feeble defense of his father.

Arthur couldn’t help but think if only Merlin knew who he was defending.

He sighed heavily and got up. “But in protecting me, he’s kept from so much of the world. I never was allowed to leave and missed out on so much. Before I came here, I had never seen a television show, I’d never been to the movies, I’d never had pizza - which is amazing - I’d never seen a computer. I’ve still never heard anything other than classical music.”

“Really?” Merlin asked as he got up and stood in front of Arthur.

Arthur nodded. “Even here, I have listened to much music. I have no idea how to work an iPod.”

Merlin laughed. He clasped both of Arthur’s hands. “Then I guess I have a lot to show you.”

 

~*~

Arthur never returned to work at the clinic, which was something that suited Gwaine just fine. He got to live the vacation of debauchery that he had hoped.

Even though he didn’t work at Emrys Clinic anymore, he still got to see Merlin every day. They had lunch together and Merlin tried to introduce Arthur to as many modern things that he could. He took Arthur to a boxing match, which he assumed Arthur would like. And Arthur did very much. If he weren’t a prince he could definitely see himself as a boxer.

He took Arthur to a play and to a museum. He showed him how to browse for things on-line. And he introduced him to as much music as he could. He was successfully - after five tries - able to show Arthur how to use an iPod. He also took Merlin to a karaoke bar, though Arthur absolutely refused to sing. But Arthur laughed until he was almost sick when Merlin performed a song called “Tubthumping.”

At the end of the week, Merlin took Arthur to his first concert. The Druid Society had organized a concert for its members. Merlin said that they had booked a Death Cab for Cutie cover band; though they were only going to perform some of the band’s earlier hits (Arthur didn’t have the heart to tell Merlin he didn’t understand a word of Merlin’s explanation.)

Arthur was excited to get to meet the members of the club. He was surprised that there were so many of them. The music was a little loud for Arthur at times, but he enjoyed the melody of the music. He listened to the lyrics and the singer’s scratchy but strong voice. Something came over him and he started to sway to the music. He looked over and Merlin had a wide, goofy smile on his face as he watched Arthur.

“Do you dance?” Arthur yelled over the music.

Merlin shook his head vehemently. “You wouldn’t want to see that. I get very spastic, limbs everywhere. I usually look like I need to be taken to the hospital.”

Arthur threw his head back and guffawed.

At one point, Arthur looked in front of them during a fast paced song and Daegal was smiling and dancing with a girl, who Arthur saw when she turned around, was Freya.

During the last part of the concert Arthur and Merlin lay in the grass and listened to the music. Arthur looked over and Merlin’s eyes were closed. The way the night’s shadow played on his face made Merlin’s cheekbones stand out even more. He looked so beautiful and Arthur ached to touch him.

When the singer was done with the last song he instructed the audience to put their hands in the air.

Merlin turned to Arthur. “Look up.”

Arthur wasn’t sure why, but he did as asked. Almost everyone in the audience had a hand up. They all murmured something in Latin. Arthur looked at Merlin and his eyes were glowing. Arthur sat up on his elbows and saw that almost everyone around him had golden eyes as well. He looked up and gasped in delight when he saw several balls of unnatural, but gorgeous, golden balls of light float into the air.

“Amazing.” Arthur muttered.

“I know.” Merlin replied happily. “Better than fireworks.”

“I’ll take your word on that.” Arthur laughed.

When he turned his gaze to Merlin, the sight took his breath away. If he thought Merlin looked amazing before, it was nothing compared to the way the golden light bathed Merlin and the beauty of his eyes.

Arthur felt physically drawn to Merlin and he slowly leaned over Merlin. He gave Merlin plenty of opportunity to turn his head, tell Arthur to stop, blink, or something. But instead Merlin gently carded his fingers through Arthur’s hair and pulled Arthur the rest of the way. Their lips touched and Arthur felt a jolt all the way down to his toes.

This wasn’t his first kiss. Arthur had once kissed visiting Princess Mithian when he was thirteen, but this no way compared to that. It was the most exhilarating experience he had ever felt. And when he deepened the kiss and Merlin moaned he thought he could die right there and never regret a single thing in his life.

After they separated Arthur had trouble breathing. He couldn’t concentrate and stole a few glances at Merlin. Merlin gazed back at him with heavy lidded eyes. They didn’t say a word, but quickly got up and left the concert.

They didn’t touch each other on the way back. They headed to the hotel. Arthur was beyond grateful that Merlin had taught him how to text message and sent an urgent text for Gwaine to vacate the premises immediately.

As soon as they got closer to Arthur’s room it was like a switch had been flipped and they launched themselves at each other. Merlin’s kisses were better than anything Arthur could think of. He’d only gotten drunk once in his life and the feeling was somewhat similar. Arthur’s whole body tingled, his stomach lurched, but in a pleasant way, his brain was foggy, and he felt intensely euphoric.

They entered the darkened room - thank you, Gwaine - and Merlin slammed Arthur against the door almost before he had it fully closed. Arthur fumbled around for the light switch. He found it at the same time Merlin found a spot behind his ear and sucked on it. Arthur’s knees buckled at the same time as light flooded the room. He was sure he would pass out at any second if Merlin kept sucking on that spot.

Arthur grabbed Merlin’s face and planted a sloppy open mouth kiss on his lips. He swept his tongue into Merlin’s mouth and Merlin whimpered into his mouth. He pushed Arthur back just to rip off his t-shirt.

Arthur could feel Merlin moving them backwards. He became very aware of the bed in his peripheral vision. Suddenly, it really occurred to Arthur what they were about to do and he had to put a stop to it, though he wasn’t sure if he had the strength. He pulled back from the kiss and Merlin immediately chased after his mouth. Arthur thought these might be the worst words he ever had to say. “Merlin, we have to stop.”

Merlin briefly glanced up at him with lust blown pupils. “Why would we do that?” Since Arthur kept pulling away, Merlin attacked Arthur’s neck instead. He sucked at Arthur’s pulse point and Arthur saw stars.

As much as Arthur desperately wanted Merlin - desperately was an understatement - he didn’t want to sleep with Merlin with this huge lie that hung between them. He might have done some morally wrong things in his life but he knew that he couldn’t cross that line. But Merlin would not make things easy on him. “I think we might be moving too fast.”

“Not fast enough.” Merlin groaned as he wrapped one arm around Arthur and trailed the other one down his chest. He licked a hot, wet stripe up Arthur’s neck.

“Oh,” Arthur panted. Some of his faculties still remained and he put his hands against Merlin’s shoulder and weakly tried to press Merlin back. “I just don’t want you to do anything you’ll regret.”

Merlin looked back into Arthur’s eyes momentarily. “I won’t” He said simply.

When Merlin pinched his nipple, Arthur thought he was done for. All thoughts of nobility flew out of his head. He grabbed Merlin by the hair and kissed him filthily. Their tongues battled for dominance.

Merlin finally pushed them onto the bed. He grinned down at Arthur before he scooted down and swirled his tongue around Arthur’s nipple.

“God, help me!” Arthur moaned.

Merlin looked up at him and smirked. “God won’t help you but I will.”

Arthur threw his head back and lamented that even a cheesy line like that didn’t lessen his erection.

Merlin was much more dominant in bed than Arthur would have ever imagined. He loved it. But as much as he enjoyed Merlin worshipping his body, especially when he worried Arthur’s nipple between his teeth, his mind began to clear again and he was more determined to put a stop to things.

He gently took Merlin’s face in his hands. “Merlin, what about Will?”

Merlin’s lust faded somewhat and he looked down somberly. He slid off Arthur’s body and took a deep breath. “I feel awful about what happened with Will. And I feel a bit guilty because Will was right. I did - I do - have feelings for you. I knew that it was wrong because I was with Will and I would never cheat on him or anyone. But I couldn’t help it. I tried to stuff them down and not think about it. But Arthur I am falling so hard for you.” Merlin bit his lip shyly and glanced up at Arthur.

Arthur stroked his cheek and kissed Merlin tenderly. He pulled back slowly. “I feel the same way.” He rubbed his thumb softly across Merlin’s cheek.

Merlin placed his hand over Arthur’s and smiled lovingly at him. “You’re probably right. I should take some time out of respect to Will.”

Arthur had never hated someone agreeing with him more.

 

~*~

Arthur and Merlin hadn’t immediately stopped kissing. But after a few minutes Arthur knew if Merlin didn’t leave they would both change their minds.

Merlin sweetly kissed him goodnight and left.

Arthur wanked furiously and then flopped down on his bed. He couldn’t even find it in himself to be embarrassed that the cleaning staff would have to deal with the come stained sheets.

When he woke up in the morning he knew he couldn’t let this continue. It would probably hurt and be the most difficult conversation of his life, but he had to tell Merlin the truth.

Gwaine straggled in as Arthur was getting ready to leave. His hair was disheveled. He looked dead on his feet but still had a satisfied smile on his face.

“Had fun?” Arthur asked good-naturedly.

“Ealdor is a good little town.” Gwaine said as he ripped off his boot and threw them on the floor haphazardly. He shucked off his coat and let it fall to the floor on his way to the bed. He fell forward face first and sighed in contentment.

Arthur eyed Gwaine’s dirty boot in disgust. “Just because we’re not in Camelot doesn’t mean you get to throw your things around wherever you choose.”

“The maid will clean it up.” Gwaine muttered. He stuck his head up and groaned. “God, I sound as spoiled as you.”

Arthur picked up Gwaine’s jacket and threw it at him.

“Still, I’m going to miss the maid service.”

“I’m not going to miss them coming in and moving my things around.” Arthur groused. “I can’t find one of my rings.”

“You probably just don’t remember where you left it.” Gwaine accused him. “Besides you’ll have plenty of rings when we go back to Camelot.”

Arthur sighed as he thought about their last week left in Ealdor. Part of him really did miss home. And he knew he had to confront his father. Something he dreaded and sort of eagerly anticipated. He was ready to finally stand up to his father. But the thought of leaving Merlin behind gutted him, especially when things were falling into place for them. If he stayed...The thought of staying hadn’t occurred to him until just now.

He ran a hand thoughtfully through his hair. He walked over to the bed and crouched by the foot of the bed. “Gwaine, what would you think if I said I was thinking of staying here in Ealdor?”

Gwaine’s head popped up and suddenly he was alert. “What? Really?”

Arthur nodded slowly. “Camelot is my home. I miss the people there terribly, especially Morgana. But I really like it here. I get to do things for myself and think for myself. And I might not always like it,” he and Gwaine shared a laugh, “but I don’t want to give it up.”

“You mean you don’t want to give Merlin up.” Gwaine said wisely.

Arthur smiled. “No. I don’t. If it comes down to a choice between Merlin and Camelot, I choose...Merlin.” Arthur said with a surprised, but happy chuckle.

Gwaine sat up fully. He looked at Arthur with bittersweet fondness. “While I would miss you, I think you’d be making the right decision. Merlin is good for you, Arthur.”

Arthur nodded once. “I agree.” He took a deep breath. “Now, I only hope I don’t lose him.”

Gwaine raised his eyebrow. “You’re going to tell him the truth?”

“Yes.” He said simply. “I called him and asked him to meet me for lunch.” He huffed softly. “He said he’d talked to Will earlier and it had been awkward. No more awkward than this, I’m afraid.”

 

~*~

As Arthur walked to the clinic he had a sinking feeling. Merlin hadn’t met him for lunch like they talked about. That wasn’t like him. He also didn’t answer when Arthur called. Arthur held onto the door handle and tried to collect himself before he walked in.

Two pairs of eyes immediately looked up at him. Mordred looked at him with a look of disgust. Arthur was a bit confused. It seemed Mordred had been getting over whatever crush he had on Arthur.

Arthur was definitely displeased to see Will there. He was even more displeased at the smug look on his face.

And then there was Merlin. He hadn’t looked up at Arthur. He stared down at the newspaper. Apparently whatever was on the front page had Merlin hypnotized.

“Merlin?” Arthur called out hesitantly.

Slowly Merlin looked up. His eyes were red and tears welled in his eyes. He dragged the newspaper up and Arthur almost fainted when he saw the headline in his black letters. With how big and prominent the lettering was it was almost as if it was shouting angrily at Arthur: PRINCE PENDRAGON PERPETRATES FRAUD.

Arthur let out a shaky breath.

Mordred was the first to speak. “You should leave.” He said darkly.

“Now, Mordred I’m curious to hear how the Prince plans to try and lie and weasel his way out of this.” Will gloated.

Arthur narrowed his eyes. He focused on the article which Merlin still held limply in his hands. There was a picture of Arthur in his princely attire - red cloak, chainmail, and crown - but Arthur didn’t know how it was possible. He snapped his head in Will’s direction. “Is this some kind of fake?” He roared.

Will held a hand to his chest. He pretended to be wounded. “Now, would I really jeopardize my career and risk a lawsuit just to print a story?” He shook his head. “This is fact and I had proof to back it up.”

“What proof?” Arthur said indignantly.

Merlin got up and turned his back to the interplay between Will and Arthur. Mordred went to him and put his arm around him and whispered to him. Arthur wanted to go to him so badly, but he was still stunned too stunned by the picture and article. He didn’t know what he would say to Merlin. What he had prepared was completely ruined now.

Will took something out of his pocket and stuffed it in Arthur’s hand.

Arthur was shocked to see his gold ring with the familiar dragon on it. He growled at Will. “Where did you get this?”

“I’m afraid that’s because of Freya.”

“Freya?!” Arthur cried.

“But don’t judge her too harshly. Like Merlin she is simply too naive and trusting. I told her that Merlin asked me to give you something, but that it was supposed to be a surprise and she let them right into your room.” His lip curled disgustedly. “Even she suspected something was happening with you two.”

Arthur ignored his last comment. “So you took my ring?”

“I thought I recognized it, but I couldn’t be sure. So, yes I took it. Small price to pay for the truth. Anyway, I had to do a lot of research but I finally found out what it was - your family’s crest. The _Pendragon_ family crest.” He shook his head. “I knew I was right about you.”

Arthur looked down at the ring and fumed. Merlin still had his back turned and was stood stock still.

“But I couldn’t print my article without incontrovertible proof. So I dug a little deeper and I was able to find, it’s kind of funny I found it on this small website for fans of royalty. There was this picture of the Kings of the Five Kingdoms...and you.”

Slowly, the memory came back to him. Uther was triumphant that day and it was one of the only times he allowed cameras in Camelot, since the other Kings wanted to document the occasion. Arthur had never seen his father happier. He was focused on his father he barely even remembered taking the photograph. And not it had ruined his life.

“I can see the light bulb went off in that prattish head of yours. It’s not a fake. It’s the truth.” Will crowed. He got in Arthur’s face. “Why were you here? Did your tyrant father send you here to spy on sorcerers, so he could learn their secrets and use it to continue to torture and _execute_ innocent people?”

Arthur was thisclose to strangling Will. “That doesn’t make any sense. That’s not why I was here!”

“Then why!”

“Because I came here to find…!” He trailed off. He dug his nails into his palms. “That is none of your business. None of this was my business.”

“You made it my business when you targeted my boyfriend!” Will spat.

“You need to step away from me right now or I will not be responsible for my actions!”

“So now that I’ve revealed you to be the lying knobhead that you are, you’ve resorted to threatening me. You are pathetic!”

“Enough!” Merlin thundered.

Arthur had never heard him sound so angry, and yet when he looked over at him, Merlin looked deathly calm.

“Will, you need to leave.”

Will looked shell-shocked. He briskly walked over to Merlin. “Merlin?”

“I’m serious, Will. You need to go and I need to talk to Arthur. You did what you came here for.” Merlin said coolly.

“Are you mad at me, Merlin?” Will dropped the smugness and he sounded lost.

Merlin shook his head. “I don’t know what I am. But I know that I need you to go...please?” Merlin turned to his brother. “You too, Mordred.”

Mordred looked hesitant, but nodded. He left quietly.

Will looked between Arthur and Merlin and back again. Arthur stoically refused to back down from his stare.

Will bit down on his lip hard and grunted before he turned back to Merlin. “Fine. But don’t be taken by his lies again Merlin. Please.”

Merlin didn’t say anything or look at Will as he left.

Arthur and Merlin stood silently. Merlin just stared at the floor. And Arthur tried to gather his wits and come up with some way of explaining things to Merlin.

Merlin huffed. “It’s a good thing I decided to give you a chance to explain.”

“Merlin, I just don’t know what to say.”

Merlin nodded. “Clearly. You had weeks to tell me the truth and you didn’t. I suppose I understand why you stopped things between us last night. I suppose I should be grateful.”

Arthur swallowed thickly. “Merlin, I’m sorry.”

Merlin crossed over to his desk and picked up the paper. “I said you looked good in red.” He grinned at Arthur, though it didn’t reach his eyes.

“Merlin…”

“I always said Will had quite the imagination. When he told me he thought you were Arthur Pendragon, I didn’t think it was possible. I didn’t think you would lie to me about something _so_ important. I defended you.” He looked down at the paper. “Will seems to think that you’re here to spy for your father. Is that true?”

Arthur shook his head repeatedly. “No. I would never do something like that to you.”

“But you would lie to my face every day.” Merlin threw down the paper. “So why should I believe anything you say?”

Arthur took a tentative step forward.

Merlin put up one finger in warning. “Don’t come any closer.”

“Merlin, I care about you so much. I didn’t intend to lie to you. And not everything I said was a lie. I really did come here to be closer to my mother.”

“That I believe.”

“I also came here to find my bride.” Arthur whispered.

Merlin’s eyes widened like saucers. “Your bride?” Merlin stuttered.

“I mean, technically, that’s what I’m supposed to find. I’m supposed to marry and produce an heir. I’m even betrothed to someone right now.”

Merlin put a hand over his heart and looked like he was about to keel over from all the information. “You mean to tell me on top of everything else, you’re engaged? There’s some poor girl in Camelot waiting for you?”

“Trust me; Vivian is not some poor girl waiting at home for me. We barely even know each other. She can’t stand me nor I her. So my sister thought that when I came here to Ealdor that I could find someone to bring home that I really loved, instead of marrying someone who my father picked out for me.”

Merlin sighed deeply. “Arthur I can barely get my head around all of this. And I know it wouldn’t be any easy conversation but why not just tell me that from the start. Just tell me the truth? Why did you lie?”

“Because…” It pained Arthur to say this. “Because when I met you and I found out you were a sorcerer I...was afraid. After everything my father’s taught me and everything I’ve seen I believed that people with magic were evil.”

Merlin flinched.

Despite what Merlin said before, Arthur rushed towards Merlin.

Merlin backed away slowly.

“I don’t think that now. Not after meeting you, not after meeting your friends. I know that having magic doesn’t inherently make you evil. Merlin, you are the best person I’ve ever met. You’re so much braver than I ever could be.” Arthur confessed tearfully. “I was so scared to tell you who I really am. I was afraid that you would blame me for what my father’s done.”

Merlin held his head in his hands for a moment and looked up at Arthur with sadness. “The thing is Arthur while I _hate_ your father for what he has done, I could have gotten past it, because I don’t blame you.”

“You don’t?” Arthur whispered.

“No. You’re not your father. Maybe you believed we said about magic, but that doesn’t make you responsible for his actions.”

“Then you can forgive me?” Arthur said hopefully.

“No.” Merlin replied brokenly. “This isn’t about what your father did. It’s about what you did. You were the one who lied to me. I opened to you and I trusted you with the things I don’t tell a lot of people. And you lied to me about who you are.”

Arthur could feel the tears well up in his eyes. He was really afraid that he had lost Merlin for good. “That’s not true. You didn’t know my real name. That’s it. Merlin, before I came here I didn’t know who I really was. But you changed that. You do know the real me.”

Merlin bit his lip and shook his head lightly.

Arthur pressed his luck and got closer to Merlin and, with trembling hands caressed Merlin’s face. “Please give me another chance.” Arthur touched his forehead to Merlin’s.

Merlin cried and gripped Arthur’s face gently before he pulled quickly and turned his back. I can’t trust you, Arthur. I want to, but I can’t.” He shuddered. “I need you to go.” He said so softly Arthur hoped he’d misheard.

“Merlin?” Arthur pleaded.

“Please go!” Merlin said forcefully.

Arthur reached out for Merlin but knew it was hopeless. He let his arms fall uselessly to his side. He backed out of the office and shut the door quietly. He watched Merlin collapse in the middle of the room and knew there was nothing he could do for him but honor his wishes.

 

~*~

Arthur walked into the Albion with heavy feet. He felt numb and like his life was over. He barely could see Freya try to flag him down.

Finally she screeched, “Mr. Pendragon!”

He turned sluggishly. “What is it?”

“I thought I should warn you - you have visitors.”

“Are they up in my room?” He said tiredly.

She nodded.

“So apparently having a key means nothing in this establishment.”

Arthur left as Freya began to sputter. He tuned her out as the elevator door closed.

He slowly entered his room. He stopped in his tracks when he saw a familiar head of dark hair over by the couch. “Morgana?”

She stood up. She primly arched her eyebrow as she sauntered toward him. “You don’t call, you don’t write.” When she got to him and slapped him upside his head. “Did you forget to use the phone I so generously gave you?”

“I use it.” Arthur said as he rubbed the back of his head.

“I meant use it to call me.” She clarified curtly.

“Apparently, you gave me a subpar phone. The signal was always horrible and I couldn’t use it to make long-distance calls.” Arthur complained. He trudged over to the fridge and got some water, which he gulped down.

“And yet you and Gwaine managed to contact me for more money.” Morgana replied.

“You know Gwaine is very resourceful when it comes to money.” Arthur took a moment away from their banter, which he realized he missed, and started to assess the situation. If Morgana was here than in all likelihood their father…”Morgana, please tell me father isn’t here with you?”

Morgana frowned. “I’m sorry. I can’t do that.”

“What is he doing here?” Arthur began to panic.

“Well, apparently as much as Father lives in the Dark Ages he still reads the newspaper.”

Arthur gulped.

“He reads the newspaper. It seems he likes to keep up with what’s going on in the ordinary world. He prefers more high-brow papers like _The Times_. And they have an obsession with everything royal. You are apparently big news Arthur. Not front page big like here, but…” She walked over to the couch and picked up a newspaper, where it was already folded to Will’s story.

Arthur snatched it from her hand. It was the same story but he felt compelled to read it. “I’m going to kill Will.”

“I take it you’ve made some enemies here.” Morgana said calmly.

Arthur didn’t respond. He threw the paper and looked around the room. “Where’s Father? Where’s Gwaine?”

“Father dragged Gwaine so he could take him to where you worked.” Morgana grinned. “You should have seen Uther’s face when he read that you actually worked.”

“I don’t believe this.” Arthur mumbled.

“You should have heard Gwaine. He was very brave and stood up for you.” She boasted.

Arthur ran past her. “I have to find him.” If Uther and Balinor were in a room together, Arthur knew nothing good could happen. One of them was bound to kill the other.

 

~*~

 

Arthur could hear the shouts from across the street.

“Your son used sorcery to trick my son into deviant behavior!” Uther shouted.

“How dare you!” Balinor raged.

“Your kind disgusts me! Unless there was a spell involved my son would never be with a monster like you!”

Arthur walked in on and saw Uther on the ground with Balinor above him. Merlin attempted to hold his father back.

“Father!”

They all turned to look at Arthur.

Uther got up hastily and dusted himself off. He turned to Arthur and when he looked him up and down, he sneered at Arthur’s common clothes - a white pullover and black jeans.

“We’re leaving, Arthur.” Uther commanded.

Arthur stood up straight and strode over to Uther. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“What did you say?”

“I’m not going anywhere with you until you apologize to them.” He nodded toward Balinor and Merlin.

Balinor still seethed with rage. Merlin couldn’t make eye contact with Arthur.

“Apparently, you have spent too much time on your own and you forget who you are speaking to. I am your father, and more importantly your king and you will show me some respect!”

Arthur didn’t flinch. He was not afraid of his father anymore. He spoke in a steady voice. “I have spent too many years blindly following your orders and taking what you said as the truth. I had more respect for you than you will ever know. But that is over. You have done nothing to earn my respect.”

Uther furtively glanced over at Merlin and Balinor. He would never show it, but Arthur could tell that he was embarrassed and at a loss for words. “This is clearly the sorcerer’s work. I know that you would never act like this otherwise. I thought that I had left you in good hands,” Uther glared at Gwaine who did not cower under his king’s gaze. “Clearly I was mistaken. But I will forgive your impertinence Arthur because I know it’s not really you speaking.” Uther grabbed Arthur’s arm.

Arthur instantly ripped his arm away. “For once, Father this is the real me talking. And I said I’m not leaving here.”

Uther rounded on Merlin. “What have you done to my son?” Uther whirled around to stare down Arthur. “When I told you that you could come to sow your royal oats I did not expect you to take up with a poor, homely, male _sorcerer_.” Pure hatred dripped from his words.

Balinor charged towards Uther. But Merlin stepped in front of him. Merlin turned his attention to Arthur. “What does that even mean, ‘sowing your wild oats.’?”

“It means that you were just a means to an end. I gave my son permission to indulge in his baser desires before he married. Now I didn’t know this his urges were so distasteful. But, be that as it may, this was just a momentary dalliance. Nothing more.”

Merlin looked up at Uther and watched him with an expression of disgust and pity, but there was no fear there. “Your son lied to you, your highness,” Merlin said the words “your highness” with his nose turned up. “He came here looking for love and he found it.”

Arthur would never be able to tell Merlin how much his words in that moment meant to him. He was so proud of Merlin and the love he felt for Merlin made him feel even stronger.

Uther laughed and shook his head. “You’re lying, sorcerer. You thought you could use my son for his money and that will never happen.”

“Father!” Arthur shouted.

Uther slowly turned to look at him.

“Merlin is telling the truth. You read the article. I lied to him. He didn’t even know who I was.” Arthur stepped around Uther and gazed at Merlin. “I can’t tell you again Merlin how sorry I am. I know that I acted abominably, but I want you to know that I love you.”

Merlin peered up at Arthur hesitantly. His lip trembled but he didn’t say anything.

“This is madness!” Uther roared.

Arthur whirled around to face him. “Why is that? Why is it so impossible for you to believe that I fell in love with a sorcerer? You did.”

All of the color drained from his face. “What?”

“I know the truth Father.” He gestured to Balinor. “This is Balinor Emrys. He knew her and he told me that she had magic.” Arthur stepped closer to Uther. “I had to hear it from a stranger and not my own father? Why wouldn’t you tell me? And why in God’s name would you make it your mission in life to hunt down those who have magic when you married a witch? How could you do that?”

Uther stumbled backward. He had to prop himself on the wall. “You don’t understand my son.”

“Then make me understand! Tell me the truth for once!” Arthur begged.

Uther nodded shakily. “Magic is what killed your mother. I never told you about it because it was too painful to talk about. I knew that your mother had magic when we met. But it was something she was ashamed of. She had to flee from her home because of it. Ygraine said that magic was a curse.”

Arthur looked over his shoulder at Merlin, who just gazed back at him somberly.

“She renounced magic and never used it again. But magic wasn’t done with her. It didn’t stop at just ruining her life; it had to take it as well.”

Arthur’s brow furrowed. “I don’t understand.”

Uther stood up fully and took a deep breath. “When you were one years old, your mother started to feel incredibly weak and she could barely keep her eyes open most days. It got so bad she couldn’t even hold you anymore. We took her to our physician Gaius and it turned out she had a disease that Gaius hadn’t heard of since the days of the Old Religion it was so rare. It was as if her magic was slowly killing her from the inside out. There was nothing he could do.” Uther’s voice cracked.

Arthur’s first instinct was to reach out to his father, but he couldn’t let go of his anger.

“I refused to give up. I personally talked to every magical person I could find. Some simply turned me away. Some laughed and said that Ygraine got what she deserved for turning her back on her _gifts_. Finally, I spoke to the druids and they said they couldn’t interfere because it was your mother’s destiny. By the time, I returned home your mother had passed. I didn’t even get to hold her one last time.”

Arthur covered his mouth and tried to hold back his tears. He felt Merlin’s hand on his shoulder. Though what he had told him once before remained true, knowing how she died didn’t make the pain go away, it still tore him up to know how both of his parents suffered.

Uther charged towards Arthur and grabbed his shoulders. “Don’t you understand why I had to do what I did? I couldn’t let magic infest Camelot again. I couldn’t let it touch you. I was trying to protect you.”

Arthur shook his head and looked at his father sadly. “You could have simply banished all sorcerers, Father. But instead you murdered hundreds of innocent people who had done nothing wrong. They were simply born with magic. Don’t you see how insane that is?”

Uther opened his mouth, but Arthur could clearly see Uther didn’t get it.

“Father, I don’t need you to protect me from the truth and certainly not the way you have been. It can’t continue this way. If you can’t be the kind of king your people need then I will.” Arthur declared.

“You’re coming back to Camelot?” Uther asked warily.

Arthur swallowed thickly. “Yes, I’m going to return to Camelot but not for your sake, but for _my_ people.”

“I’m still your king, Arthur.” Uther stated emphatically.

“That may well be. But I am not going to let you hurt anyone else. And you are not going to run my life anymore.”

“What does that mean?”

“I want to marry Merlin.” Arthur looked over at Merlin whose mouth dropped.

Uther gaped at him.

Arthur stepped around him and ran to Merlin. “I came here to find someone to spend the rest of my life with Merlin and that’s you. I love you.” He looked around the room and took Merlin’s hand and gently led him outside to the alley where they first met. Merlin still looked too stunned to speak. “I know you said you that you hate public spectacle, so I thought we could do this in private.” He got down on one knee. “Will you marry me, Merlin?”

Merlin panted and rubbed his forehead. Tears fell from his eyes. He looked scared and confused. “Arthur, I...I can’t.”

Arthur’s whole world shattered in that moment.

Merlin gripped his shoulders and pulled him up.

Arthur felt as if he were going to hyperventilate.

Merlin took his face in his hands and turned Arthur to face him. He stroked his cheek. “Arthur, even if I could say that I had forgiven you for your lies I can’t move to Camelot. Do you expect me to live in the same place as someone who persecuted my kind, no matter what his reason was?”

“But I’m not going to let him hurt anyone else. I swear that to you.” Arthur said desperately. “And you and I, Merlin, we could make Camelot a better place I know it. Camelot needs someone like you.”

Merlin froze. Arthur wondered if he might reconsider. “I can’t Arthur. I’m needed here, too. And this is my home.”

Arthur scrubbed at his face and lifted his hands at his sides and didn’t know what to do. “Do you want me to renounce the throne?”

Merlin shook his head vehemently. “No, I was so proud of you Arthur for standing up to Uther. I know that you are going to be a great king. I think it’s your destiny.”

“But,” Arthur’s voice hitched. “I don’t want to do this without you.”

Merlin held Arthur’s face in his hands and kissed him tenderly. “I know that you can do this, Arthur. I believe in you.” He stared into Arthur’s eyes one more time as he fought back tears before he ran back into the building.

Arthur staggered a few feet and slid against the wall. He put his head on his knees and wept openly.

 

~*~

 

A few months later and things had really started to change in Camelot. When they had gotten back from Camelot, Arthur had reiterated to his father that things would be different and that Uther had to accept that or lose Arthur forever. Uther wasn’t happy about it, but he agreed to Arthur’s terms. His father may be crazy and show it in a weird way but Arthur knew that he loved him and he would be absolutely devastated if he lost him.

It also helped that Morgana and Arthur banded together and warned Uther that if things didn’t change that they would let everyone know the true reason for Uther’s war against magic. Uther knew if his hypocrisy was revealed that the people would turn on him. Arthur didn’t want to stage a coup, but he would if he had to.

Also, upon his return to Camelot Arthur had made no haste in ending his betrothal to Vivian. But he didn’t do it himself; he let Morgana have that honor, to her immense delight. While he knew that his love for Merlin would never fade, Arthur decided that he needed to be responsible and do what was best for the future of Camelot. Lucky, he was able to come to an amicable arrangement with neighboring country Nemeth and was set to marry Princess Mithian. While it wasn’t a love match, Arthur knew that Mithian was a good person and would make an excellent queen.

On the day of his wedding, he stood in his chambers and waited for Gwaine to arrive. He was late as usual and Arthur considered having Gwaine put in the stocks. He would enjoy watching Gwaine get pelted with rotten fruit.

He finally heard his door close.

“Finally, Gwaine you lazy sod. You do realize it is my wedding day. You couldn’t be early just…” He turned around and all the breath left his body. “....once.”

Merlin stood before him. He smiled shyly at Arthur. He looked gorgeous. He was wearing a proper black suit jacket, white shirt, and black tie. He looked so amazing; Arthur actually rubbed his eyes to make sure Arthur was really there. “You’re here.” Arthur breathed out when he opened his eyes and Merlin was still there.

“Yes.” Merlin laughed lightly.

“I don’t know...How are you here?” Arthur stammered. He was too afraid to move, almost afraid that any movement would wake him from whatever waking dream or hallucination he was experiencing.

“Took a plane. The private Camelot jet. Morgana sent it.” Merlin explained.

“Morgana?”

Merlin nodded. “This was her and Gwaine’s idea.”

Arthur bit his lip and looked down. “Why? Did they invite you to the wedding?”

“Sort of.” Merlin said cryptically.

He stepped forward and once he and Arthur were within arm’s reach of each other, Arthur couldn’t hold back and reached forward and crushed Merlin to him. “I don’t care why you’re here just please don’t go again.”

Merlin hugged him back. He pulled back and kissed Arthur chastely. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“You’ve forgiven me?” Arthur whispered tearfully.

“Yes. I forgave you a long time ago.” Merlin replied. “I hate that you lied to me, but I understand how you could have lied out of fear. I did the same thing with Will. I knew it was over a long time ago, but I didn’t want to be the bad guy. I didn’t want to break his heart.”

“I promise you, Merlin I’m not going to lie to you again.” Arthur said sincerely. His forehead wrinkled in thought. “But what does this mean? Are you willing to stay here in Camelot?”

“I thought about that and I realized that I was being a coward by turning you down.” Merlin chuckled. “It was actually my father who convinced me of that.

“But your father hates me.” Arthur said, puzzled by Merlin’s statement.

Merlin shook his head. “No. He doesn’t know you. He was blinded by his anger toward your mother. But he knows that you love me and he appreciated the way you stood up for me to Uther. He said you were brave. He even said you reminded him of your mother in that moment.”

Arthur swallowed down a swell of emotion.

“I admitted to him that I was mostly just scared of leaving everyone around behind and risking everything for one person. He said that it what you do for the person you love and anything less is cowardice.” He tilted his head and gazed at Arthur. “And I love you and I am not going to be a coward anymore.”

Arthur lurched forward and captured Merlin’s mouth in a deep kiss. He squeezed Merlin tightly and lifted him up. Arthur couldn’t remember a happier moment in his life.

Merlin pecked at Arthur’s lips and laughed. “If you don’t let me go we won’t ever be able to get married.”

Arthur pulled back in stunned silence. “You want to marry me?”

“That’s what I’m here for.” Merlin beamed at him.

Arthur was at a loss for words but suddenly let forth a huge whoop of joy and picked Merlin up and twirled him around. He finally set him down. He held out his hand to Merlin. “Shall we?”

Merlin nodded enthusiastically. “Absolutely.”

 

~*~

While having to let Mithian know wasn’t the greatest moment of his life, she showed once again why she was a great Princess when she accepted Arthur’s decision with grace and dignity. Arthur knew, and hoped, that one day she would have someone she loved like he loved Merlin.

Uther had surprised Arthur when he agreed to attend the wedding and even though he didn’t look thrilled, he didn’t make any objections.

He stood in front of the gathered guests in Camelot and couldn’t stop beaming at his soon-to-be husband. Merlin’s joy was palpable. He was so overcome with joy he actually jumped the gun and kissed Merlin before they were even pronounced officially married. Thankfully, they were able to rectify that little mistake quickly.

After the wedding, they took a carriage ride through Camelot as everyone cheered and looked on happily. Arthur and Merlin waved.

Merlin looked around. “So, someday all of this will be yours?”

“Ours, husband of mine.”

Merlin beamed at the word “husband.”

“So now that you’re officially royalty, what do you want to do?” Arthur asked.

Merlin twisted his mouth around and pondered this. “Well, husband, I think we have to do something about making Camelot a little more modern.”

“What do you suggest?”

“I’m thinking karaoke bar.” Merlin grinned devilishly.

Arthur sighed and kissed Merlin. “Perhaps something else.”

Merlin laughed as he continued to wave to the crowd.

Arthur knew that if Merlin pushed he would give in easily. He may be the future king, but he knew who the boss was truly.


End file.
